GIFT  OF 


VJJv-x^»^*<     &i  xilvj^ 
CA^^^Js,      <^ 

^v  "^^ 


In  The  Land 

of 
The  Living  Dead 


An  Occult  Story 

BY 

PRENTISS  TUCKER 


FIRST  EDITION 


PUBLISHED   BY 

THE  ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP 
International    Headquarters 

Mt.    Ecclesia 
Oceanside,  California 


L/ondon: 

LI.  N,  Fowler  &  Co.,  7  Imperial  Arcade 
lyudg-ate  Circus  ;    J 


COPYRIGHT  1921 

BY 
THE  ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP 


FELLOWSHIP  PRESS 
OCEANSIDE,    CALIFORNIA 


Vir.  Sid 


to  send 

Living  [)< 
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it  may  b< 


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P.O.Box  12 


Table  of  Contents 


Chapter  I 

A  Visit  to  the  Invisible  Planes. 
Chapter  II 

A  Sergeant's  Experience  after  ''Passing  Out." 
Chapter  III 

A  Soul  Flight. 
Chapter  IV 

Back  to  Earth— A  Pretty  Nurse. 
Chapter  V 

The  Elder  Brother  in  the  Flesh. 
Chapter  VI 

A  Doughboy's  Ideas  on  Religion. 
Chapter  VII 

Helping  a  Slain  Soldier  to  Comfort  his  Mother. 
Chapter  VIII 

A  Study  of  Auras. 
Chapter  IX 

An  Experience  with  Nature  Spirits. 
Chapter  X 

A  Crisis  in  Love. 
Chapter  XI 

Light  Again. 


44272,1 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

CHAPTER  I 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES 

IT  ALL  came  about  from  a  German  high-explosive 
shell. 

Nothing  happens  without  a  cause.  We  might  say 
that  this  story  began  in  Germany  when  Gretchen  Ham- 
merstein  put  the  finishing  touches  on  a  certain  high- 
explosive  shell  and  with  the  contact  of  her  fingers 
filled  the  shell  with  the  vibrations  of  her  hatred  for 
the  Americans.  We  might  note  the  various  oc 
currences  which,  each  the  result  of  an  endless  train  of 
circumstances,  contributed  to  the  fact  that  this  par 
ticular  shell  was  brought  to  the  German  front  at  just 
such  a  time  and  just  such  a  place.  But  to  follow  up 
these  lines  of  happenings,  almost  infinite  in  number, 
would  require  an  infinitude  of  patience. 

So  we  will  take  up  the  history  of  events  when  this 
high-explosive  shell  burst  in  the  American  trenches, 
scattering,  besides  its  material  and  visible  charge  and 
fragments,  the  hatred  for  Americans  which  Gretchen 
Hammerstein  had  packed  into  it. 

Jimmie  Westman  was  leaning  against  the  trench 
wall  nearest  the  German  line  and  was  peering  through 
the  well  camouflaged  peephole  which  was  used  to 

5 


:6:  IN  THE 


LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 


watch  the  dreary  and  awful  wastes  of  No  Man  's  Land 
in  guarding  against  any  surprise  attack.  The  shell 
burst  within  a  few  feet  of  him  and  to  the  rear,  but 
Jimmie  did  not  know  it.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  long  time 
before  he  found  out  just  what  had  happened,  and  it 
is  of  the  things  which  came  in  between  the  bursting 
of  the  shell  and  the  time  when  Jimmie  was  able  to 
reconstruct  the  whole  affair,  that  I  wish  to  tell.  They 
were  quite  remarkable  events;  they  produced  a  great 
impression  upon  Jimmie  and  completely  changed  his 
ideas  of  life. 

It  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  long  time  before  Jimmie 
regained  consciousness  after  the  explosion.  To  be 
exact  it  was  practically  three  days,  and  while  he  is 
lying  in  that  condition  of  coma  let  us  take  a  little  look 
into  his  life  and  history. 

Jimmie  was  not  born  of  poor  but  honest  parents. 
His  parents  were  honest  but  not  poor,  and  though  not 
rich  they  had  given  him  a  good  up-bringing  and  a 
good  education.  He  had  gone  through  high  school 
and  was  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine  when  the 
war  broke  out.  I  say  he  was  engaged  in  it.  I  like 
Jimmie  and  am  reluctant  to  say  that  he  was  putting 
far  more  of  his  time  into  the  sports  of  the  gridiron 
and  the  diamond  than  he  should  have  done,  but,  nev 
ertheless,  that  was  the  case.  He  was  a  specimen  of 
the  clean,  honorable,  somewhat  careless  American  boy, 
eager  to  succeed,  eager  to  stand  high  in  work  and 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  7 

sport  alike,  but  glamoured  to  a  certain  extent  by  the 
adulation  paid  to  the  prominent  athletes  in  the  col 
lege  which  he  attended. 

However,  he  was  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine, 
partially  engaged,  perhaps  I  should  add,  and  he  was 
really  deeply  interested  in  his  chosen  profession  al 
though  he  had  not  progressed  so  far  as  to  be  very  pro 
found  in  his  knowledge  of  materia  medica.  He  had 
imbibed  some  of  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  lecturers 
to  whom  he  had  listened,  and  his  mind  had  taken  on 
a  rather  skeptical  tinge  which  had  given  his  mother 
some  little  worry;  still  not  very  much  for  well  she 
knew  that  her  early  teachings  were  deeply  rooted,  and 
the  character  of  her  boy  ,was  too  strong  for  the  sci 
entific  skepticism  of  his  surroundings  to  do  much 
more  than  ruffle  the  surface  of  his  clean  young  life. 

But  Jimmie  had  an  inquiring  soul,  and  while  the 
platitudes,  most  of  them  grossly  illogical  and  unscien 
tific,  which  he  heard  from  the  pulpit  when  he  did  go 
to  church,  produced  little  effect  upon  him,  yet  the  ob 
jections  put  forward  by  the  doctors  and  students  with 
whom  he  was  associated  seemed  to  him  to  be  also  lack 
ing  in  force  and  weak  in  reason.  He  was  swayed  be 
tween  the  two  but  controlled  by  neither,  though  at 
heart  he  was  inclined  to  be  deeply  religious  as  most 
people  are  if  they  have  the  chance. 

In  the  first  year  of  his  college  life  the  great  war 
began.  It  was  practically  at  the  end  of  the  first  year 


8  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

just  before  the  final  examinations,  and  when  he  went 
home  for  the  summer  vacation  the  whole  country 
was  seething.  Farsighted  ones  knew  that  the  war 
would  involve  the  United  States.  Fanatics  and  fanat 
ical  pacifists  fought  every  measure  of  safety  and  sided 
with  the  traitors  and  the  enemies  of  liberty  and  just 
ice.  Jimmie  began  to  think  and  turned  over  and  over 
in  his  mind  the  state  of  the  world,  and  when  he  went 
back  to  his  study  in  the  fall  it  was  with  the  settled 
conviction  that  the  United  States  would  soon  have  to 
enter  and  that  he  would  necessarily  be  involved.  At 
that  time  no  one  had  foreseen  the  shortage  of  doctors, 
and  Jimmie,  feeling  sure  that  the  fight  was  a  righteous 
one  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  help  even  though  his 
country  still  held  back,  during  the  second  year  of  his 
medical  course  enlisted  with  the  Canadians.  He 
paid  a  short  visit  home  first  and  succeeded  in  making 
his  mother  and  father  see  the  matter  in  his  way, 
though  it  was  the  hardest  task  he  had  ever  attempted. 

It  was  when  he  was  home  on  this  errand  that  he 
got  the  news  of  the  death  of  an  old  friend  of  his.  She 
had  grown  up  with  him  and  the  loss  of  her  dispelled 
a  dream  which  had  half  formed  in  his  mind  and 
toward  the  realization  of  which  he  had  unconsciously 
been  working. 

So  he  enlisted  and  was  whirled  into  the  great  seeth 
ing  cauldron  of  war. 

By  the  time  the  United  States  came  in,  he  was  a  war 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  9 

worn  veteran  of  wide  experience  in  spite  of  his  youth, 
and  he  sought  and  obtained  a  transfer  from  the 
Canadian  troops  to  those  of  his  own  country  by  whom 
he  was  welcomed  with  enthusiasm.  At  the  time  the 
shell  burst  which  made  so  great  a  change  in  his  life 
he  was  second  lieutenant  with  a  good  chance  of  pro 
motion. 

He  had  not  heard  the  shell,  and  as  I  have  said  did 
not  know  that  it  had  exploded,  so  was  somewhat  sur 
prised  to  find  himself  in  a  part  of  the  country  which 
he  did  not  know.  It  was  a  wide,  meadow-like  stretch 
of  land  sloping  gently  upward  and  he  was  walking 
leisurely  along  as  though  he  had  all  the  time  there  was 
at  his  disposal. 

The  first  return  of  consciousness  found  him  walk 
ing  up  this  gentle  slope,  wandering  a  little  in  his  mind 
because,  as  he  remembered  it,  he  should  have  been 
at  his  post  in  the  trench.  Things  were  a  little  differ 
ent  somehow,  but  just  how,  he  could  not  for  the  life 
of  him  understand. 

He  seemed  to  be  moving  with  considerable  ease, 
much  more  than  he  was  accustomed  to,  for  the  ever 
lasting  mud  of  this  country  did  stick  to  one's  boots 
terribly  and  it  was  often  hard  work  to  place  one  foot 
before  the  other.  Now,  however,  he  was  stepping  along 
easily  and  without  effort,  but  he  did  not  know  where 
he  was  going,  or  where  he  came  from. 

The  trench  was  not  in  sight  but  he  was  walking1  so 


10  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

entirely  without  effort  that  it  made  little  difference 
to  him,  for  he  could  find  it,  doubtless,  even  though  his 
knowledge  of  French  was  quite  limited. 

Thank  goodness !  he  was  not  behind  the  enemy  lines. 

But  stop ! 

If  he  were  behind  his  own  lines  and  did  not  know 
how  he  got  there,  why  might  he  not  be  behind  the 
enemy  lines  equally  without  his  knowledge  ? 

His  mind  was  coming  back  to  him  more  and  more. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  awakened  from  a  deep  sleep  and 
was  just  coming  to  himself. 

But  if  he  had  been  asleep,  why  did  not  some  of  the 
boys  come  and  wake  him  up  before  the  whole  line  had 
been  pushed  forward  like  this  ? 

For  goodness  sake!  where  was  the  trench?  Where 
was  the  camp,  the  communication  trenches,  the  roads, 
everything?  Where  was  this  place,  this  nice,  easy 
meadow  sloping  gently  upwards? 

The  line  must  have  gone  forward  and  he  had  been 
left  behind  in  his  sleep.  That  was  evidently  so,  be 
cause  if  the  line  had  gone  backwards,  the  bosches 
would  have  waked  him  up  with  their  pleasant  "civil 
ized"  custom  of  killing  the  wounded  and  the  sleep 
ing,  if  there  were  any  sleeping.  No,  the  line  had  gone 
forward  and  somehow  he  had  not  waked  up  but  had 
evidently  walked  in  his  sleep  to  this  place,  wherever 
this  place  might  be. 

He  could  not  remember    leaving    the    firing   post 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  11 

where  he  had  been  watching  through  the  peephole,  but 
that  was  a  mere  detail.  The  main  thing  now  was  to 
find  out  where  the  command  was  and  rejoin  it.  He 
could  easily  find  it  because  he  knew  how  to  keep  his 
direction  by  the  sun. 

Involuntarily  he  looked  up.  The  sun  was  not  visible, 
although  it  was  broad  daylight  and  there  was  no  haze 
apparent. 

Never  before  in  France  had  he  seen  so  long  a  stretch 
of  country  with  no  signs  of  humanity.  Either  there 
were  towns  and  hamlets  and  farms  or  there  was  the 
awful  desolation  where  the  bosches  had  passed,  but 
this  meadow  showed  neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 
It  was  certainly  an  enormous  meadow,  especially  for 
France.  Put  a  number  of  tractors  on  this  place  and 
the  dread  of  famine  would  pass  away  for  there  was 
land  enough  here  to  raise  food  for  a  kingdom. 

But  time  was  passing  and  he  must  hurry ;  also  he 
must  think  of  some  kind  of  excuse  for  his  absence,  for 
the  captain  was  pretty  strict  on  such  subjects  and 
sleep-walking  might  not  be  taken  as  a  valid  reason  for 
being  away  from  his  post  of  duty. 

"Why  don't  you  glide?19 

1 '  What  do  you  mean  by  *  glide T' 

He  turned  to  see  who  spoke,  for  he  had  heard  no 
footsteps  and  had  thought  he  was  quite  alone.  He 
saw  a  girl  walking  along  beside  him  or,  at  least,  mov 
ing  along  beside  him,  for  apparently  she  was  not  walk- 


12  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

ing  the  conventional  way.  He  knew  her  well,  and  a?  he 
recognized  her  he  felt  his  face  grow  pale,  for  the  girl 
beside  him  was  one  who  had  been  a  particular  friend 
of  his.  But  he  had  been  told  on  his  last  visit  home 
that  she  had — had — well,  that  she  had  died  while  he 
was  away  at  college  and  just  before  his  return  to  say 
good-bye  to  his  parents  previous  to  enlisting.  He  must 
have  been  misinformed,  somehow.  He  looked  at  her, 
edged  away  just  a  trifle,  pinched  himself,  and  was 
quite  at  a  loss  just  what  to  do  or  say.  It  must  be  that 
she  had  not  died  but  perhaps  she  had  been  sent  to  an 
insane  asylum  and  had  gotten  over  here  to  France 
somehow  by  mistake;  and  here  she  was  talking  non 
sense  to  him  about  "gliding". 

He  glanced  at  her  again.  By  jove,  she  was  gliding! 
For  heaven 's  sake !  Had  he  gone  crazy  too  t 

A  merry  peal  of  laughter  interrupted  his  amaze 
ment.  It  was  the  old,  joyous,  hearty  laugh  of  the  girl 
he  had  known  so  well. 

By  jiminy!  she  was  laughing  at  him.  Bewildered? 
Well,  who  wouldn't  be  bewildered  in  such  a  case? 

Thoughts  flash  through  the  mind  at  times  with  ter 
rific  rapidity,  and  the  thoughts  which  I  am  setting 
down  apparently  took  a  long  time  to  occur,  but  in  re 
ality  they  were  almost  instantaneous  and  practically 
took  no  time  at  all;  yet  they  had  a  logical  sequence 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  13 

and  seemed  to  him  at  the  time  to  be  slow  and  careful 
reasoning. 

She  was  laughing  at  him !  Ghosts  don 't  laugh.  It 
is  not — not — well,  it  simply  is  not  done,  that's  all. 
Everybody  knows  that  ghosts  don't  laugh.  And  she 
was  talking  to  him  about  gliding.  That  showed  that 
she  was  crazy  and  upheld  the  insane  asylum  theory 
but,  and  here  he  glanced  again  at  her  feet — she  really 
was  gliding.  At  least  she  was  not  walking  by  lifting 
up  one  foot  and  putting  it  down  again  in  front  of  the 
other.  No  she  was  gliding  and  laughing  at  him. 

Besides,  ghosts  are  gloomy,  distraught,  lovers  of 
darkness  and  graveyards  and  midnight  and  mystery 
and  of  frightening  people.  Yet  here  was  one,  if  she 
really  were  a  ghost,  who  was  looking  at  him  with  a 
really  beautiful  face,  happy,  apparently  joyous,  and 
frankly  and  unaffectedly  amused  at  him, — at  him! 

He  remembered  her  well.  He  had  known  her  well. 
He  had  been — er — well  to  tell  the  truth — he  had 
thought  that  perhaps  when  he  got  started  in  his  pro 
fession — oh !  shucks,  he  must  be  dreaming.  He  was  in 
France,  had  come  over  to  fight  the  Kaiser  and  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy,  and  that  was  a  serious 
job. 

Yet  here  she  was  laughing  at  him.  How  could 
such  a  mistake  have  occurred?  They  had  told  him  all 
about  it.  They  had  gone  over  it  again  and  again  for 
they  knew  how  he  had — cared  for  her.  Yet  they 


14  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

must  have  made  a  mistake.  He  had  to  believe  the 
evidence  of  his  own  eyes. 

Dear  heart,  but  she  was  pretty  now !  She  had  been 
pretty  before,  beautiful,  he  had  thought,  but  now  she 
seemed  radiant.  Now  she  was  walking  and  with  that 
little  dancing  step  which  cannot  be  described  but  is 
called  "tripping." 

She  moved  slightly  ahead  and  half  turned  toward 
him,  laughing  at  him  in  such  a  natural  way,  just  like 
her  own  old  self,  that  he  began  to  laugh  too.  Things 
had  seemed  pretty  serious,  but  with  so  much  merri 
ment  around  and  such  a  pretty  girl  mocking  him  he 
could  not  realize  that  the  Huns  were  so  near  and  that 
so  much  human  suffering  was  going  on. 

She  instantly  grew  serious  as  though  she  had  di 
vined  his  thought. 

"I  couldn't  help  it,  Jimmie,  you  looked  so  bewil 
dered." 

"I  surely  am  bewildered.  How  did  you  get  here, 
over  here  in  France?  And  why  did  they  tell  me  that 
you  had — er — gone — ' '  he  groped  helplessly  for  a  way 
to  express  the  thought. 

She  answered  him  with  a  rippling  little  laugh  at 
his  dilemma. 

"Don't  be  afraid  to  say  it,  Jimmie." 

He  was  "afraid  to  say  it"  however  and  he  count 
ered  with — 

' '  How  did  you  get  here  ? ' ' 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  15 

' '  I  was  sent. ' ' 

"Look  here,  Marjorie,  don't  fool  me.  How  did  you 
get  over  here  in  France?" 

"Truly,  Jimmie,  I  am  not  'fooling';  honest  Injun, 
as  we  used  to  say,  I  was  sent,  really  and  truly  I  was, 
but  I  asked  to  be  sent, ' '  she  added.  *  *  You  see  the  oth 
ers  were  so  busy  and  there  was  not  much  that  I  could 
do,  but  I  knew  that  I  could  help  you  and  I  knew  that 
you  would  be  glad  to  see  me,  so  I  asked  for  permission 
and  the  Elder  Brother  gave  it  to  me ;  he  is  always  so 
kind  to  me." 

The  insane  asylum  theory  received  a  new  impetus 
with  this  statement.  The  "Elder  Brother"  must  be 
one  of  the  doctors,  but  she  didn't  talk  like  an  insane 
person.  She  was  radiantly  beautiful  now,  far  more 
beautiful  than  she  had  been  when  he  had  seen  her  last, 
and  she  was  talking  rationally,  but  who  in  the  dickens 
was  this  "Elder  Brother"?  She  was  an  only  child. 
It  must  be  the  doctor. 

He  had  been  through  an  insane  asylum  once  with 
a  party  of  sight-seers  and  had  not  noticed  that  any 
of  the  women  inmates  were  beautiful.  Even  if  one 
of  them  had  been  pretty,  the  expression  of  the  eyes 
would  have  offset  any  mere  physical  prettiness.  But 
this  dancing,  gliding,  tripping  girl  beside  him,  with 
her  blue  eyes  and  fair  hair,  was  so  bewilderingly,  daz- 
zlingly  beautiful,  and  her  eyes  had  not  a  trace  of  that 


16  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

fixed  stare  or  lack  of  focus  which  makes  the  insane 
person  so  terrible  to  look  at. 

And,  besides,  she  could  glide!  Great  Scott!  He 
had  forgotten  that.  She  could  glidel  How  in  the 
dickens  could  any  one  glide f  It  just  can't  be  done, 
except  on  skates — 

"Oh  yes,  it  can!  You  can  do  it  yourself!" 

"Me!  How  did  you  know  what  I  was  thinking 
of?" 

' '  Why,  I  can  tell  from  your  aura. ' ' 

"My— what?" 

"Aura.  Your  aura !  Don't  you  know  you  have  an 
aura?" 

"Never  heard  of  it  before.  I  got  a  medal  for 
sharpshooting,  but  they  didn't  give  me  any  aura  and 
I  know  I  didn  't  bring  one  over  with  nte. ' ' 

She  danced  around  in  front  of  him  as  he  walked, 
gliding,  tripping,  and  looking  tantalizingly  at  him 
first  from  one  side  and  then  from  the  other,  and  all 
the  time  laughing  at  him  with  that  thrilling,  tinkling 
laugh  of  hers,  so  full  of  merriment  and  fun.  She 
was  laughing  so  that  she  could  not  speak  for  some  mo 
ments.  He  did  not  understand  what  the  joke  was, 
but  it  was  evidently  a  good  one  and  she  was  so  happy 
over  it  and  so  pretty  that  he  reached  out  and  took 
her  hand  and  they  danced  along  together,  laughing, 
she  at  him  and  he  at  himself,  for  the  joke  he  could  not 
understand. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  17 

1 '  %  Jove !     He  had  forgotten ! 

By  all  the  rules  he  ought  to  be  worn  out.  Sin^ce 
the  big  bombardment  had  commenced  several  days 
ago  he  had  not  known  what  it  was  not  to  be  tired ;  yet 
here  he  was,  dancing  along  with  this  pretty  girl  just 
as  though  he  was  as  fresh  as  a  daisy.  Ah!  He  felt 
tired  now,  dreadfully  tired;  it  just  showed  the  force 
of  mind  over  matter  that  he  had  forgotten  his  weari 
ness  for  an  instant  in  the  joy  of  this  new-found 
friendship.  He  could  hardly  drag  one  foot  after 
the  other. 

She  drew  her  hand  away  with  that  old,  familiar  ex 
pression  of  pretense  at  anger. 

"  You  're  not  tired,  either!  You  just  think  you 
are.  Now  make  up  your  mind  that  you  're  not  tired ! ' ' 

"I  can't  Marjorie!  I'm  awfully  tired.  Why  I 
haven't  had  any  sleep  for  two  nights,  and  tramping 
around  in  that  mud  and  all — why — Marjorie,  a  fellow 
can't  do  that  for  three  days  and  not  be  tired." 

"Now,  Jimmie,  don't  you  know  you  didn't  feel  at 
all  tired  at  first  ?  When  we  were  walking  along  and 
you  were  wondering  how  I  came  to  be  here,  you  were 
not  tired  at  all  because  you  were  not  thinking  of  it, 
and  now  just  because  you  think  you  ought  to  be  tired 
you  go  and  get  tired.  Let 's  sit  down  awhile. ' ' 

"It's  too  damp  here  for  you  to  be  sitting  on  the 
ground;  you'd  catch  your  death  of  cold." 

She  laughed  at  him. 

2 


18  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

1  'No,  I  won't  catch  my  death  of  cold.  It's  quite 
dry  here.  See  how  dry  the  ground  is.  Besides  I 
can't  catch  my  death  of  cold.  There  are  reasons. 
That's  what  I  came  to  tell  you  about,  but  I  don't 
know  how  to  begin,  Jimmie." 

He  looked  at  the  ground.  It  really  was  perfectly 
dry,  just  as  she  had  said. 

' i  Well,  let 's  sit  down,  then.  But  remember  I  've  got 
to  hurry  back  and  report  and  so  I  can't  stop  but  a 
minute  or  two.  But  what  did  you  come  to  tell  me 
about?  And  why  can't  you  tell  it?  I  never  knew 
you  to  be  unable  to  hold  up  your  end  of  the  conver 
sation,  Marjorie.  What  is  it  you  want  to  tell  me?" 

"Oh,  Jimmie!  It's  hard  to  tell  you.  You  won't 
believe  me. ' ' 

"Yes,  I  will,  Marjorie.  I'll  believe  anything  you 
say.  But  there  are  some  mighty  queer  things  hap 
pening  this  morning  that  I  don't  understand  at  all. 
Now,  how  did  you  come  here  ? ' ' 

"Just  as  I  told  you.  I  was  sent.  But  I  asked  to 
be  sent  because  I  wanted  to  help  you.  And  now  I 
don 't  know  how  to  say  it. ' ' 

"Who  sent  you,  Marjorie?" 

"The  Elder  Brother.  Oh,  he  is  so  kind  and  good 
to  me." 

' '  Who  is  this  '  Elder  Brother  '—a  doctor  ? ' ' 

She  smiled,  a  little  sadly  but  very  sweetly. 

"Do  you  remember  what  you  thought  first  when  I 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  19 

spoke  to  you  and  you  looked  around  and  saw  who  it 
was?'' 

"Yes.  I  remember  what  I  thought — but — but — you 
don 't  know  what  I  had  been  told. ' ' 

' '  Oh,  yes  I  do,  for  I  was  there  when  you  were  told, 
and  T  saw  you  turn  around  and  swallow  something  in 
your  throat  and  I  know  you  were  told  I  was — was — 
dead." 

"Yes.  That's  just  what  I  was  told,  and  I  believed 
it  because  everybody  said  it  and  they  took  me  out  and 
showed  me  the — the — grave  and — and — " 

"Yes,  Jimmie  dear,  I  know  all  about  it  for  I  was 
there  and  heard  it  all,  and  I  saw  how  you  went  outi 
that  night,  way  out  into  the  country  and  into  that  old 
lane  in  which  we  used  to  walk,  and  how  you  cried  and 
cried  when  you  thought  no  one  knew.  Yes,  I  know 
all  about  it,  Jimmie,  for  I  was  there. ' ' 

"You!— there !" 

"Yes,  Jimmie,  my  dear  friend,  my  dear,  dear 
friend.  I  was  there  and  I  saw  your  grief  and  I  put 
my  arms  around  you  and  tried  to  comfort  you.  I  was 
there,  for  it  was  true — what  they  told  you — it  was 
true." 

"You  were — you  are — ?" 

"Yes,  dear  friend,  I  was  dead.  There!  I  might 
as  well  say  it."  She  smiled  through  the  tears  for  she 
was  frankly  crying  now. 

"I  might  as  well  use  the  hateful  word.    It  has  to 


20  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

be  used  though  it  is  untrue — untrue,  Jimmie.  We 
never  die.  Neither  you  nor  I  are  dead.  No !  We  are  both 
more  alive  than  we  ever  were  before  for  we  are  one 
step  nearer  the  great  Source  of  all  life  and  love,  and 
I  know  it  is  true  for  the  Elder  Brother  told  me.  He 
is  so  great  and  good  and  he  knows  everything,  Jimmie, 
and  he  knows  you  and  all  about  you  and  he  loves  you 
too,  Jimmie.  I  knew  I  could  help  you,  and  I  have 
permission  to  tell  you  more  than  is  told  most  of  the 
soldiers  because  you  are  able  to  bear  more  than  most 
of  them.  I  know  that  you  will  believe  what  I  tell  you 
because  it  is  what  the  Elder  Brother  has  told  me. 
And,  oh !  Jimmie  dear,  it  is  nothing  to  worry  about  for 
now  you  will  be  able  to  do  so  much  more  work  when 
you  have  learned  about  the  war  and  the  other  things 
and  about  the  Master. " 

She  spoke  now  with  almost  a  whisper  and  with  awe 
making  her  beautiful  face  even  more  lovely  than  it 
had  been. 

"You  will  learn  about  the  Master  and  how  we  can 
work  for  Him  and  maybe,  maybe  if  you  work  hard 
for  Him,  Jimmie,  some  day  you  will  see  Him.  I  saw 
Him  once,"  she  added  proudly;  "I  saw  Him  once  at 
a  distance.  I  think  He  looked  at  me  and  I  felt  so 
happy  that  I  just  danced  and  sang  for  a  long  time. 
But  that  was  before  they  had  let  me  do  any  of  the  war 
work  that  is  going  on  here.  They  told  me  at  first  that 
the  conditions  were  too  terrible  for  me  to  try  to  help 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  INVISIBLE  PLANES  21 

until  I  got  stronger,  but  since  then  they  have  let  me 
help  a  little,  especially  with  the  children.  I  do  love 
to  take  the  little  ones  when  they  first  come  over,  so 
terrified  and  so  frantic,  and  soothe  them  to  sleep  and 
work  with  them;  until  they  realize  that  they  are  sur 
rounded  with  love  over  on  this  side  and  not  with  that 
awful  hate  which  has  so  filled  poor  Belgium.  I  feel 
so  sorry  for  the  dear  little  mites.  I  have  helped  in 
this  way  a  good  deal  lately. ' ' 

Jimmie  had  not  known  what  an  aura  was  when  the 
thing  was  mentioned  but  now  he  saw  Marjorie  sur 
rounded  with  a  glowing  cloud,  a  radiating  light  of 
which  she  seemed  unconscious  but  of  which  she  was 
the  center.  It  made  her  far  more  beautiful  than  she 
had  been,  and  Jimmie  shrank  back  a  little,  feeling  un 
worthy  to  be  so  near  one  of  God 's  own  saints. 

"Since  I  began  this  work  I  haven't  danced  much" 
Marjorie  continued,  "not  nearly  as  much  as  I  have 
today,  for  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  and  to  be  allowed 
to  come  and  help  you.  It  is  the  first  time  they  have 
allowed  me  to  meet  any  of  the  soldiers  who  have  come 
over  for  it  is  a  dangerous  thing  sometimes.  It  needs 
great  strength  and  wisdom  and  I  have  neither,  but  I 
have  one  thing  that  counts  for  more,  far  more. ' '  She 
turned  away  and  whispered  the  words  to  herself; 
Jimmie  was  not  sure  but  he  thought  the  words  were 
—"I  have  love." 


22  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"Oh,  Marjorie!  Do  you  mean  that  I  am — what  we 
just  now  said?" 

"Yes,  you  are,  Jimmie,  but  don't  let  it  worry  you 
for  it  is  really  an  advantage.  There  are  lots  of  reasons 
why  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  here  and  I  am  going  to 
tell  you  some  of  them.  But  you  are  lucky  for  the 
Elder  Brother  is  coming  to  meet  you." 

'  *  I  don 't  want  to  meet  any  Elder  Brothers.  I  want 
to  talk  to  you. ' ' 

He  reached  out  and  took  her  hand. 

"If  I  am  dead  then  you  are  too  and  so  neither  of 
us  has  any  advantage.  I'm  sure  you  don't  look  dead 
a  bit  and  I  don't  feel  dead.  I  can't  make  head  or 
tail  of  it." 


CHAPTER  II 

A  SERGEANT 's  EXPERIENCE 

JIMMIE,  the  Elder  Brother  is  coming!  Oh! 
Oh !  I  'm  so  glad  for  it  must  be  that  he  wants 
to  talk  to  you  himself. ' ' 

"Well,  I  wish  he'd  stay  away.  I  want  to  talk  to 
you—" 

"Here  he  is—" 

Jimmie  turned  in  response  to  a  gesture  from  Mar- 
jorie  and  saw  standing  before  him  a  man,  somewhat 
past  middle  age,  tall,  erect,  and  with  nothing  so  prom 
inent  about  him  as  the  ability  to  inspire  in  others  the 
feeling  of  being  in  the  immediate  presence  of  great 
power.  The  man  bowed  slightly  and  while  Marjorie 
and  Jimmie  were  rising,  spoke: 

"I  know  you  very  well,  Mr.  Westman,  especially 
through  the  help  of  our  little  friend  here,"  and  he 
touched  Marjorie 's  curls  gently  and  lovingly.  "I  sent 
her  to  meet  yeu  first  but  must  not  tax  her  too  greatly. 
I  want  you  to  come  with  me  for  a  while,  and  later  you 
may  have  a  long  talk  with  her." 

The  newcomer's  manner  and  tone  bore  such  an  air 
of  quiet  authority  that  Jimmie  never  for  an  instant 
entertained  a  thought  of  appeal.  He  merely  re 
sponded  to  Marjorie 's  little  graceful  gesture  of  adieu 

23 


24  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

and  turned  to  walk  beside  the  man  whom.  Marjorie 
had  called  the  " Elder  Brother." 

They  walked  for  some  distance  in  silence,  a  silence 
which  Jimmie  thought  it  best  not  to  break,  for  in  some 
way  which  he  could  not  explain,  he  felt  as  though 
this  man  was  quite  a  "big  bug"  in  this  country,  and 
so  he  walked  on  silently  until  the  man  himself  might 
feel  moved  to  begin  the  conversation. 

Some  rods  had  been  passed  in  slow  pacing  before 
the  silence  was  broken.  In  the  meantime  Jimmie  had 
cast  a  furtive  glance  around  to  see  how  far  Marjorie 
had  gone,  but  to  his  surprise  she  was  not  in  sight  ajt 
all  although  he  was  sure  he  could  see  a  couple  of  miles 
in  any  direction. 

"You  have  had  a  good  rest,"  his  companion  said  at 
length,  "and  it  will  not  be  too  great  a  tax  upon  you 
to  map  out  briefly  some  of  the  duties  which  it  will  be 
your  privilege  to  attend  to  in  this  new  life  upon  which 
you  have  entered.  But  before  that  I  will  show  you  a 
little  of  what  has  happened  and  is  happening,  and  as 
soon  as  you  are  ready  for  the  inform ation  I  shall  show 
you  just  why  this  war  was  allowed  to  come  upon  the 
world  and  in  just  what  manner  your  help  will  be 
needed. 

' '  Things  are  somewhat  different  here  from  what 
you  have  been  accustomed  to,  and  I  want  to  call  your 
attention  to  one  thing  which  Marjorie  hesitated  to 
dwell  upon  and  that  is  the  method  of  your  locomo- 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  25 

tion.  You  do  not  need  to  walk  in  the  old  way;  it  is 
much  more  convenient  and  much  quicker  to  progress 
by  what  Marjorie  suggested  to  you  at  first — the 
glide.  We  all  of  us  here  move  that  way.  It  only  re 
quires  a  slight  effort  of  the  will  and  is  as  much  su 
perior  to  walking  as  walking  is  to  crawling  on  the 
hands  and  knees.  In  fact  there  is  hardly  a  limit  to 
the  speed  of  the  glide  and  without  it  we  would  find 
it  impossible  to  do  the  work  which  has  to  be  done 
in  these  strenuous  times.  Try  it." 

At  the  word  he  began  to  glide  just  as  Jimmie  had 
seen  Marjorie  do.  Jimmie  then  made  the  effort  him 
self  and  to  his  surprise  found  that  he  could  move  along 
as  he  had  often  done  on  ice  when  skating,  only  this 
movement  was  the  result  of  an  effort  of  the  will  and 
required  no  exertion  of  the  body  at  all.  He  was  as 
delighted  as  a  child  with  this  newly  acquired  power 
and  glided  around  like  an  ice  skater  cutting  the  old 
familiar  figure  eight  and  other  patterns  a  number 
of  times  before  he  once  more  steadied  down  at  the  side 
of  his  new  acquaintance. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  the  boy  in  every  man  just 
as  there  is  a  great  deal  of  the  man  in  every  boy,  and 
iJimmie  was  frankly  more  absorbed  and  interested  in 
the  possibilities  of  the  glide  and  in  the  fact  that  he  had 
resumed  his  place  at  the  Elder  Brother's  side  without 
being  in  the  least  out  of  breath  or  feeling  any  of  the 
effects  which  usually  follow  such  strenuous  exercise, 


2G  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

than  he  was  in  the  tremendous  fact  that  he  had  really 
and  truly  crossed  over  the  "  Great  Divide "  and  was 
in  the  very  act  and  article  of  learning  what  was  on  the 
"Other  Side  of  Death." 

Slowing  down  to  the  more  dignified  progress  of  his 
guide,  he  felt  somewhat  abashed  at  his  exhibition  of 
enthusiasm  and  began  to  apologize  in  an  indirect  man 
ner. 

* '  This  gliding  business  is  quite  a  novelty  to  me  and 
it  seems  to  be  just  what  I  have  always  wanted  to  do. 
I've  dreamed  of  just  that  very  thing  at  times,  and 
when  I  once  realized  that  I  could  actually  glide,  it 
was  like  doing  some  old,  familiar  stunt  over  again." 

"You  were  not  mistaken.  It  is  an  old  familiar 
'stunt.'  " 

"It  must  be  that  my  ice  skating  is  what  made  it 
seem  natural  to  me." 

"No.  It  was  familiar  because  you  have  often 
glided  and  you  were  really  used  to  doing  it.  In 
your  sleep  you  have  always  spent  your  time  over  on 
this  side.  On  most  nights  you  were  not  actually  con 
scious,  yet  you  were  partially  aware  of  what  you  were 
doing  though  you  were  not  able  to  take  the  memory 
back  with  you. ' ' 

*  *  Gee !     Well,  what  do  you  know  about  that ! ' ' 

"It's  an  improvement  on  walking,  isn't  it?" 

1 '  Well !  I  should  say  so.  I  '11  sure  teach  it  to  the 
boys  when  I  go  back — " 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  27 

He  stopped  short,  realizing  that  there  was  no  ' '  go 
ing  back." 

The  man's  face  glowed  with  sympathy. 

'  *  No, ' '  he  said,  ' '  there  is  no  going  back,  but  I  think 
that  when  I  have  shown  you  that  which  lies  before 
you  and  which  is  so  much  grander  and  greater  than 
what  lies  back  of  us,  you  will  not  want  to  go  back, 
you  will  want  with  all  your  heart  and  soul  to 
go  forward." 

"I  am  going  to  take  you  back  to  the  trench  where 
your  company  is,  for  one  of  your  friends  is  going  to 
pass  over.  As  he  will  not  go  in  the  same  way  you 
did  he  will  recover  consciousness  almost  immediately 
and  I  want  you  to  take  charge  of  him.  In  this  way 
you  will  learn  a  good  deal  about  some  phases  of  what 
your  duties  will  be  later  on. " 

"And  now,"  he  continued,  "before  you  begin  ac 
tual  work,  I  want  to  impress  upon  your  mind  that  this 
war  was  necessary,  because  in  no  other  way  could  the 
human  race  be  saved  from  an  impending  and  over 
whelming  fate.  This  fact  does  not  in  the  least  ex 
cuse  those  who  are  responsible  for  bringing  it  on,  but 
I  speak  of  it  because  the  great  conflict  and  awful  suf 
fering  have  made  some  think  that  the  powers  of  good 
were  helpless  before  the  powers  of  evil.  This  is  not 
so.  God  rules  over  all  and  as  the  sparrow  cannot  fall 
without  His  knowledge  and  will,  so  no  war  can  be 
started  without  His  knowledge  and  will ;  but,  as  said, 


28  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

this  does  not  excuse  those  who  bring  it  on. ' '  His  face 
grew  very  stern  but  withal  tender,  and  his  eyes  had 
a  far-away  look  in  them  as  though  his  thoughts  were 
far  away  over  the  centuries  that  are  to  come  before 
the  good  which  is  to  result  from  the  great  struggle 
shall  have  formed  its  pattern  on  the  loom  of  time. 

"Now,"  he  resumed,  "we  will  travel  a  little  faster 
and  you  can  use  that  newly  found  power  of  yours, 
the  glide." 

He  began  to  glide  as  he  spoke  and  moved  faster 
and  faster.  Jimmie  kept  gliding  along  by  his  side, 
occasionally  forgetting  and  fixing  his  mind  on  some 
thing  else,  and  when  he  did  this  he  found  that  he  was 
apt  to  stop  altogether.  This  he  explained  to  himself 
by  saying  that  walking  had  become  so  much  a  sec 
ond  nature  to  him  that  he  could  do  it  and  still  think 
of  something  else,  but  that  gliding  was  yet  new  and  so 
he  had  to  center  his  mind  on  it  all  the  time. 

The  Elder  Brother  moved  faster  and  Jimmie  fol 
lowed  him  as  well  as  he  could,  though  when  the  guide 
left  the  earth  and  moved  through  the  air  Jimmie  was 
a  little  dubious  as  to  his  ability  to  follow  so  strenuous 
a  leader.  Soon,  however,  he  became  more  and  more 
accustomed  to  the  new  sensation  and  began  to  take  a 
little  interest  in  the  landscape.  Now  he  noticed  that 
they  were  passing  over  a  part  of  the  country  which 
was  familiar  to  him,  and  in  another  moment  or  two 
he  saw  that  they  were  nearing  the  trenches.  He  heard 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  29 

the  reports  of  the  great  guns  and  saw  the  planes  fly 
ing  far  above,  for  he  and  his  guide  were  again  near- 
ing  the  earth,  and  in  another  minute  they  had  alighted 
on  the  edge  of  that  section  of  the  trench  where  his 
firing  post  had  been. 

There  it  was  yet  with  one  of  the  men  of  the  company 
in  it,  and  Jimmie  motioned  to  his  friend  that  they  had 
better  jump  down  into  the  trench  where  they  would 
be  safe.  It  was  not  until  the  Elder  Brother  smiled 
at  him  in  a  quizzical  way  that  he  remembered  the  fact 
that  the  danger  of  bullets  was  over  for  him,  that  they 
could  pass  through  his  present  ethereal  body  without 
causing  discomfort. 

The  Elder  Brother  laid  a  hand  on  Jimmie 's  arm 
and  pointed  to  a  man  somewhat  over  forty,  in  the 
uniform  of  a  sergeant,  who  was  sitting  quietly  in  a 
little  dugout  smoking  a  cigarette  and  looking  at  an 
old  magazine.  As  they  were  looking  he  threw  away 
the  stub  of  the  cigarette,  laid  down  the  magazine,  rose 
slowly,  and  stepped  into  the  trench.  He  walked  leis 
urely  to  the  firing  post,  raised  his  head  to  look  through 
the  little  opening,  and  was  neatly  drilled  through  the 
forehead  with  a  rifle  bullet.  He  stood  still  for  a  mo 
ment,  then  as  the  muscles  lost  their  vitality  they 
slowly  relaxed,  and  the  body  as  slowly  leaned  against 
the  wall  of  trench,  quietly  sinking  down.  That 
was  what  the  horrified  rifleman  on  duty  saw,  but  what 
Jimmie  saw  was  that  the  sergeant  quietly  stepped  out 


30  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

of  his  body  and  stood  there,  looking  at  the  rifleman 
with  a  puzzled  expression  on  his  face.  Jimmy  needed 
no  guide  to  tell  him  what  had  happened,  and  he 
called  to  Sergeant  Strew  who  looked  up  at  him  and 
said  quietly: 

''Hello,  Jimmie,  glad  to  see  you.  When  did  you 
blow  in?  I  heard  you'd  'gone  west.'  " 

'  *  Hello,  old  fellow, ' '  said  Jimmie,  ' '  I  just  came  out 
and  brought  a  friend  of  mine." 

He  turned  to  the  Elder  Brother  and  said : 

"I'd  introduce  you  to  my  friend,  Sergeant  Strew, 
sir,  if  I  knew  your  name. ' ' 

Sergeant  Strew  seemed  to  evince  no  great  surprise 
that  Jimmie  should  have  come  out  to  the  firing  line 
in  such  a  manner,  bringing  a  friend  with  him  as 
though  the  front  trench  were  a  visiting  place,  nor  did 
the  unusual  circumstance  strike  either  of  them  as  at 
all  out  of  the  ordinary.  It  is  often  thus  with  those  who 
have  recently  passed  over  and  who  have  not  had  their 
powers  of  observation  and  reason  trained.  The  ser 
geant  knew  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  Jimmie  was  dead, 
or  at  least  he  had  been  told  so  and  had  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  fact.  Yet  when  Jimmie  appeared  alive  and 
well  and  apparently  comfortable,  the  sergeant  merely 
accepted  the  fact  without  any  hesitation.  Had  he  seen 
Jimmie,  however,  before  the  sniper's  bullet  severed 
the  connection  between  his  physical  and  vital  bodies, 
the  case  would  have  been  entirely  different. 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  31 

Jimmie 's  very  respectful  mode  of  addressing  the 
Elder  Brother,  too,  was  indicative  not  only  of  the  at 
mosphere  or  aura  of  dignity  and  power  which  sur 
rounded  the  Elder  Brother  but  showed  the  fact  that 
these  auric  vibrations  were  not  impeded  by  the  phy 
sical  body,hence  were  a  thousand  times  more  potent 
than  would  have  been  the  case  on  the  physical 
plane.  Jimmie  knew  nothing  of  mental  vibrations 
and  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  the  cause  of  his 
attitude  lay  outside  of  himself,  but  of  the  fact  of 
this  respectful  attitude  he  was  aware,  and  he  prompt 
ly  set  it  down  to  his  own  good  upbringing. 

The  name  which  was  given  I  miay  not  divulge,  but 
in  its  place  I  will  substitute,  and  say  that  the  Elder 
Brother  gave  the  name  of  Campion. 

The  introduction  over,  the  Elder  Brother  said : 
/'Jimmie,  come  to  me  in  about   an  hour   and  bring 
your  friend." 

' '  All  right  sir,  but  my  watch  has  stopped  and  I  will 
have  to  guess  the  time.  And  where  will  I  find  you, 
sir?" 

' '  I  will  send  for  you  when  the  time  comes. ' ' 

The  Elder  Brother  apparently  made  a  step  from 
the  bottom  to  the  top  of  the  trench  and  moved  off 
towards  the  rear.  The  sergeant  yelled  to  him  and 
jumped  to  interfere  but  Jimmie  caught  him  by  the 
arm.  Strew  turned  on  Jimmie — 

"Stop  him!     Call  him  back ! " 


32  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"Never  mind  him,"  Jimmie  shouted,  "listen  to 
me—" 

"All  right,  Lieutenant,  if  you  say  so.  But  jiminy ! 
I'm  glad  to  see  you  again.  Say!  did  you  notice  the 
way  that  friend  of  yours  took  the  whole  height  of  the 
trench  at  one  step  ?  Some  man,  that ! ' ' 

"He  certainly  is." 

"This '11  be  great  news  for  the  boys  to  find  you're 
all  right  again.  We  heard  that  you  got  killed  three 
days  ago.  I'm  mighty  glad  to  find  it  was  a  mistake. 
But  where  have  you  been  all  this  time?" 

Jimmie  had  come  up  at  a  time  when  there  was  a 
lull  in  the  fighting,  and  Sergeant  Strew 's  was  the 
only  casualty  at  the  time.  The  sergeant  was  so  busy 
looking  at  and  talking  to  Jimmie  that  he  had  not  no 
ticed  the  group  of  men  gathered  about  his  dead 
body,  and  Jimmie  was  at  a  loss  just  how  to  break  the 
news  to  him  gently.  He  had  never  had  such  a  job  to 
do  before — 

' i  Well  you  see,  Sergeant,  the  funny  part  about  it  is 
that  what  you  heard  was  true." 

"What  was  true?" 

"Why,  that  I  got  killed." 

"You  got  hit  on  the  bean,  that's  what's  the  mat 
ter  with  you. ' ' 

"  No,  I  didn  't  either.  I  'm  giving  you  the  true  dope. 
I  got  killed." 

"Jimmie,  go  back   and  tell   the   doc   to    fix   your 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  33 

noodle.  You've  got  a  bad  case  of  'bats  in  your  gar 
ret.'  I  might  have  known  it  was  like  that  or  you'd 
never  have  brought  that  spry  old  gent  out  here  with 
you  which  you  very  well  know  is  against  all  the  regu 
lations  even  if  you  are  a  lieutenant,  and  I  don 't  see 
how  in  thunder  he  ever  got  out  so  far,  past  all  the 
officers. ' ' 

1  *  Well,  you  see,  it 's  this  way,  Sergeant,  lots  of  men 
get  killed  and  never  know  what 's  happened  to  them. ' ' 

"Yes,  an'  some  think  they're  killed  when  nothing 
has  happened.  Why,  if  you'd  been  killed  don't  you 
see  you  would  be  a  ghost  now,  and  then  how  in  the 
dickens  could  I  see  you  and  be  talking  to  you?  It 
can't  be  done,  Jimmie.  Yjou're  just  as  much  alive  as 
I  am." 

"That's  true,  too,  Sergeant,  but  if  you'll  look  be 
hind  you  a  moment  you'll  see  that  you're  just  as  dead 
as  I  am. ' ' 

Jimmie  pointed  past  him  to  the  dead  body  which 
had  been  laid  out  on  the  boards  at  the  bottom  of  the 
trench  ready  to  be  taken  to  the  rear  if  things  kept 
quiet  after  dark,  and  the  sergeant  turned  and  looked. 
He  looked  long  and  quietly.  He  walked  over  and 
stood  beside  the  body  and  looked  at  it  carefully.  He 
spoke  to  the  sentry  in  the  firing  post ;  when  no  answer 
was  made  he  spoke  again,  more  sharply,  and  then 
walked  over  and  shook  the  man  by  the  shoulder,  or  at 
tempted  to  shake  him,  but  finding  that  his  hand  Went 

3 


34  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

through  him  he  gave  up  the  attempt,  turned  back  to 
Jimmie,  and  said  in  a  matter  of  fact  way : 

"I  guess  you're  right,  Jimmie.     I've  cashed  in." 

Jimmie  looked  at  Sergeant  Strew  and  Sergeant 
Strew  looked  at  Jimmie.  Neither  knew  what  to  say. 
The  situation  was  a  novel  one,  and  though  Jimmie 
might  have  found  words  with  which  to  offer  comfort 
to  a  friend  who  had  lost  some  dear  one,  yet  even  tfliat 
task  would  have  been  hard ;  but  when  it  was  the  friend 
himself  who  had  died  and  the  one  who  sought  to  offer 
comfort  was  himself  dead,  the  situation  began  to  as 
sume  something  of  the  comical.  Jimmie  smiled  a 
little.  Things  were  too  serious  to  laugh  about,  yet 
there  was  the  element  of  humor  and  that  very  fact  of 
itself  struck  him  as  funny,  for  humor  and  the  life  af 
ter  death  had  seemed  to  him  before  this  as  being  as 
far  apart  as  the  poles.  No  one  had  ever  connected 
the  two  to  his  knowledge.  The  sergeant,  however, 
was  very  grave. 

"So  it's  come  at  last,"  he  said,  partly  to  himself 
and  partly  to  Jimmie.  ' '  It 's  come  at  last  and  it 's  not 
nearly  anything  like  I  thought  it  would  be.  Say!" 
he  looked  at  Jimmie,  "You  have  been  over  here  for 
three  days  and  you  ought  to  be  feeling  at  home  kinda 
by  this  time ;  where  are  they  ? ' ' 

"Where  are  what?" 

"Why,  heaven,  though  I  guess  us  fellers  wouldn't 
go  there  just  at  first  anyhow;  but  where 's  all  the 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  35 

things  the  parsons  talk  about,  hell  and  the  devils  an' 
the  other  things?  This  is  just  like  where  we  were 
before  an'  I  don't  see  much  difference  except  that 
yap,  Milvane,  couldn't  hear  me  when  I  spoke  to  him; 
but  what  does  a  feller  do  here?  Do  we  go  an'  hunt 
for  a  harp  to  play  on  or  do  we  go  on  fighting  or  what  ? 
'Spose  a  lot  of  German  ghosts  come  along,  what  are 
we  to  do?" 

"Darned  if  I  know,"  said  Jimmie  to  whom  the  idea 
was  new. 

"Well,  I  don't  know  what  we  can  do  but  I  bet  I 
can  lick  any  blankety  blank  German  ghost  that  ever 
lived." 

Jimmie  felt  a  peculiar  sensation.  He  had  never 
been  a  profane  boy  and  his  worst  expletive  had  usually 
been  the  mild  word  "darn."  Stronger  than  this  he 
seldom  spoke  but  now  that  the  sergeant  used  a  few 
words  of  what  the  majority  of  the  company  would 
have  classed  as  swearing,  that  is  as  real  genuine  swear 
ing,  Jimmie  felt  a  sensation  almost  akin  to  pain.  It 
was  a  mixed  feeling,  not  physical  pain  and  yet  much 
like  it;  it  was  much  more  than  mere  repugnance  to 
something  he  formerly  would  not  even  have  noticed. 
He  remembered  the  Elder  Brother's  request  and  won 
dered  if  the  hour  was  up,  and  if  it  was  whether  he 
ought  to  take  this  friend  of  his  into  the  somewhat 
austere  presence  of  that  strange  man.  His  doubts 
were  solved  for  him  by  the  sudden  appearance  from 


36  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

nowhere  of  a  laughing  little  child  who  came  dancing 
up  to  him,,  singing  in  a  semi-chant  as  children  ofteii 
do: 

"Come  along,  Jimmie,  the  Elder  Brother  wants 
you. ' ' 

Jimmie  turned  to  the  sergeant  who  was  attempting 
to  interfere  with  a  soldier  busily  engaged  in  remov-. 
ing  the  ammunition  belt  from  the  sergeant's  discarded 
body. 

"Come  on,  Sergeant,  Mr.  Campion  wants  to  see 
us." 

' '  T  'hell  with  your  friend.  Look  at  this  gutter  snipe 
here  trying  to  rob  me  of  all  my  cartridges  an'  he 
knows  blame  well  I  got  all  my  tobacco  in  one  of  them 
pockets  an'  I'm  responsible  fer  that  belt.  Drop  it, 
gol  darn  you ! ' '  This  last  was  addressed  to  the  soldier 
at  whom  and  through  whom  the  sergeant  swung  a 
right  hand  blow  that  would,  under  former  circum 
stances,  have  almost  felled  an  ox,  but  the  soldier  paid 
no  attention  to  it.  The  sergeant  was  inarticulate  with 
rage. 

Jimmie  had  to  stop  a  minute  to  get  the  situation 
clear  in  his  own  mind,  and  then  with  a  laugh  he  in 
terposed  between  the  fuming  sergeant  and  the  un 
concerned  robber,  who  was  not  a  robber  but  merely 
obeying  his  orders. 

"Come  out  of  it,  Sergeant!      You're  dead!     Get 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  37 

me  ?  You  're  dead !  You  can 't  hurt  that  guy.  Come 
along  with  me.  You  're  dead ! ' ' 

The  sergeant  stepped  back  a  pace,  looked  at  Jimmie 
with  a  puzzled  expression  on  his  face  for  a  moment 
and  scratched  his  head. 

"Danged  if  I  aint,"  he  said  thoughtfully,  "I  for 
got  that." 

"Sure."  Jimmie  smiled  at  him  "and  what  good 
would  your  tobacco  do  you  anyhow?  You  can't 
smoke  now." 

The  sergeant  stopped  short  and  straightened  with 
a  jerk,  looking  at  Jimmie,  his  eyes  growing  wide  wftth 
horror. 

"Aint  that  hell?" 

Again  Jimmie  felt  that  painful  feeling  surge  over 
him  at  the  sergeant's  words,  and  again  he  doubted  the 
advisability  of  taking  this  profane  soldier,  brave  and 
honorable  though  he  knew  him  to  be,  before  the 
Elder  Brother,  who  was,  as  Jimmie  had  "sized  him 
up",  something  in  the  nature  of  a  "Gospel  Shar*p" 
or  ' '  Sky  Pilot. ' '  The  army  seldom  used  the  word 
minister,  and  Jimmie  had  fallen  into  the  army  ver 
nacular.  What  would  this  friend  of  Marjorie's 
think  if  Sergeant  Strew  should  forget  himself  and 
casually  utter  an  expletive? 

Again  the  little  child  with  the  smiling  face  danced 
before  his  eyes  and  repeated  the  message. 


38  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"Come  along,  Jimmie,  the  Elder  Brother  wants 
you." 

This  time  Jimmie  determined  to  obey. 

"Come  along,  Sergeant,  it's  orders  that  I've  got  to 
bring  you  with  me." 

The  sergeant  came  along,  pensively,  muttering  to 
himself  something  about  tobacco  and  the  utter  useless- 
ness  of  any  locality  or  state  of  being  where  the  solac 
ing  weed  could  not  be  smoked.  Nevertheless,  he  fol 
lowed  in  a  preoccupied  manner,  climbing  out  of  the 
ditch  after  Jimmie  and  then  nervously  looking  around 
as  though  just  remembering  that  the  sight  of  him 
might  excite  Fritz  into  starting  a  bombardment. 

"Don't  worry,"  Jimmie  said,  noticing  the  ser 
geant's  apprehension,  "Fritz  can't  see  you  and  if  he 
could  he  couldn't  hurt  you.  You're  just  as  dead  as 
you  can  get." 

' '  That 's  right,  I  never  thought  of  that.  I  aint  got 
used  to  the  idea  of  being  dead  yet. ' ' 

He  drew  his  hand  across  his  forehead  wearily,  then 
gave  a  gasp  of  dismay  as  he  felt  the  hole  in  his  head 
and  took  his  hand  away  covered  with  blood.  He  felt 
gingerly  of  the  place  where  the  snipers  had  drilled 
him.  "Say,  I  better  go  an'  get  this  fixed  up.  This 
is  a  bad  place  to  get  hit.  I  might  have  got — it's  a 
wonder  it  didn't — " 

He  stopped  short  and  looked  at  Jimmie  wistfully. 
The  wound  had  evidently  startled  him  in  a  way,  for 


A  SERGEANT'S  EXPERIENCE  39 

the  fact  was  that  in  spite  of  the  evidence  he  had  not 
yet  realized  that  he  was  dead.  Often  it  takes  a  long 
time  to  realize  a  thing  which  we  know  and  admit 
readily  as  a  mere  statement  of  fact.  While  the  ser 
geant  knew  that  he  was  dead,  yet  he  had  not  realized 
it  nor  had  he  learned  to  co-ordinate  his  thoughts 
with  what  he  knew  to  be  the  truth,  and  the  old  im 
pulse  to  get  a  wound  ''fixed  up"  before  any  compli 
cations  could  set  in  was  too  strong  to  be  shaken  off. 

Jimmie  did  not  know  and  so  could  not  explain  to 
the  sergeant  that  the  blood  with  which  his  hand  was 
covered  was  merely  the  result  of  his  own  firmly  fixed 
idea  that  there  ought  to  be  blood  where  there  was  such 
a  large  wound.  Subconsciously  the  sergeant  felt  that 
if  he  were  dead  and  a  ghost,  then  it  would  follow  that 
a  ghost  could  not  bleed.  Yet  he  was  bleeding,  for  was 
not  his  hand  covered  with  blood?  So,  partly  by  con 
scious  and  partly  by  subsconscious  methods  he  reach 
ed  the  point  where  he  doubted  whether  he  were  really 
dead  or  not.  Theories  were  thrown  to  the  winds.  The 
wound  was  a  practical  and  compelling  fact. 

' '  Say,  Jimmie,  I  Ve  got  to  go  an '  get  this  fixed  up. 
1 11  come  an '  see  your  friend  some  other  time.  I  gotta 
go  before  this  gets  worse." 

It  was,  indeed,  a  ghastly  wound,  not  only  where 
the  bullet  had  entered  the  forehead  but  much  more  so 
where  it  had  come  out  at  the  back  of  the  head  for  there 
the  wound  was  much  larger.  Jimmie  realized  the  ne- 


40  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

cessity  of  getting  it  li fixed  up,"  but  then  the  thought 
flashed  across  his  mind — where? 

Grand,  merciful,  and  devoted  as  the  Red  Cross  was, 
there  was  yet  no  hospital  he  knew  of,  where  a  man  who 
could  not  be  seen  could  be  treated  for  a  deadly^  wound 
of  which  he  had  already  died. 

' '  Where  you  goin '  to,  Sergeant, ' '  he  asked,  ' '  where 
do  you  think  you  can  get  that  thing  fixed  up  ?  Don't 
you  know  that 's  what  killed  you  ? ' ' 

11  Don't  they  have  no  hospitals  over  here?"  de 
manded  the  sergeant.  "Where  do  ghosts  go  when 
they  get  hurt?" 

"They  don't  get  hurt." 

"The  dickens  they  don't!     I'm  hurt,  aint  I?      If  I 
don't  get  this  fixed  up  somehow  I'm  liable  to — to — " 

"To  what,  Sergeant?    Come  to  life  again?" 

"Darn  you,  Jimmie.  This  thing  hurts  like  the 
dickens.  It's  a  wonder  you  wouldn't  flag  a  stretcher 
bearer  or  an  ambulance  or  somethin'  instead  of 
standin7  there  grinnin'  like  a  durn  fool.  Of  course 
they  have  ambulances  over  here.  Naturally  they 
would." 


CHAPTER  III 
A  SOUL  FLIGHT 

'  THERE  are  no  ambulances,  Sergeant,  but 
I  will  take  you  where  you  can  have  your 
wound  attended  to." 

Jimmie  turned  to  see  who  it  was  that  had  spoken 
and  was  somewhat  startled  to  see  the  Elder  Brother 
standing  quietly  with  just  the  faint  trace  of  a  smile 
on  his  lips. 

' '  Please  come  with  me,  both  of  you. ' ' 

Both  followed  as  a  matter  of  course,  it  never  oc 
curring  to  either  to  question  that  gentle  voice,  which 
for  all  its  gentleness  seemed  to  carry  a  note  of  final 
ity  and  authority. 

"Take  his  hand,  Jimmie,"  said  the  Elder  Brother, 
at  the  same  time  grasping  the  sergeant  by  the  other 
arm.  Jimmie  did  as  he  was  told  and  was  amazed  to 
find  himself  traveling  rapidly.  In  a  few  minutes 
they  "lit"  as  he  afterwards  described  it,  and  he  found 
they  were  on  a  level  lawn  some  hundred  yards  dis 
tant  from  an  enormous  building  of  the  old  Grecian 
style  of  architecture,  constructed  with  huge  sym 
metrical  columns  topped  by  Corinthian  capitals,  and 
with  a  peculiar  irridescence  or  glow  surrounding  the 
entire  structure.  Jimmie  was  not  sure  at  first, 
whether  he  actually  saw  this;  indeed,  he  did  not  see 

41 


42  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

it  continuously,  and  Sergeant  Strew,  who  seemed  to 
be  just  coming  out  of  a  dream,  apparently  did  not 
see  it  at  all. 

They  passed,  still  hand  in  hand,  across  the  lawn 
and  up  the  rows  of  steps  which  surrounded  the  build 
ing  and  wound  their  way  between  what  seemed  end 
less  rows  of  columns  until  the  Elder  Brother  opened 
a  door  and  motioned  them  before  him  into  a  room. 

He,  himself,  followed  and  having  closed  the  door, 
turned  to  Sergeant  Strew  who  was  apparently  faint 
from  loss  of  blood. 

"And  now,  Sergeant,  you  must  forgive  me  for 
having  waited  so  long  before  attending  to  your  in- 
jury." 

He  opened  a  little  cupboard  and  took  from  one  of 
the  shelves  within,  a  small  vial  filled  with  a  dark  col 
ored  substance  of  much  the  same  consistency  as  vase 
line. 

' '  Now,  Sergeant,  on  this  side  of  the  veil  we  can  ac 
complish  results  far  more  rapidly  than  on  the  side  you 
have  just  left,  and  you  will  find  that  if  you  will  do 
as  I  say,  your  wound  will  be  entirely  healed  without 
even  leaving  a  scar. ' ' 

He  stood  in  front  of  the  sergeant,  smeared  a  little 
of  the  dark  substance  on  his  own  finger,  and  said : 

"Please  stand  perfectly  still,  Sergeant,  and  concen 
trate  your  mind  on  the  way  your  forehead  looked  be- 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  43 

fore  you  were  wounded.  Think  of  it  that  way  and 
imagine  that  the  wound  was  never  made. ' ' 

He  touched  the  sergeant's  forehead  lightly  with 
the  finger  on  which  the  dark  substance  was  smeared. 
The  sergeant  closed  his  eyes  and  screwed  his  face  into 
what  he  thought  was  the  right  expression  for  one  who 
was  concentrating. 

The  Elder  Brother  removed  his  hand  and  to  Jim- 
mie  's  amazement  the  sergeant 's  forehead  was  as  clean 
and  smooth  as  the  forehead  of  a  child — smooth,  that 
is,  except  for  the  wrinkles  produced  by  his  extraordin 
ary  facial  contortions  in  trying  to  obey  the  Elder 
Brother 's  command  to  ' '  concentrate. ' ' 

1 '  Well !    Well ! ' '  said  Jimmie. 

Sergeant  Strew  opened  his  eyes. 

''Your  wound's  all  gone,  as  though  it  had  never 
been  there  at  all." 

"Thasso?"  He  felt  gingerly  and  inquiringly  of 
his  forehead. 

"  Doctor,  I  sure  have  to  hand  it  to  you  for  a  first 
class  doc.  You'd  make  a  fortune  in  the  States.  Gee! 
But  you  must  be  a  cracker  jack!" 

The  Elder  Brother  smiled. 

"You  did  it  yourself,  my  friend.  It  was  your 
own  imagination  and  will  power,  not  my  skill,  which 
healed  you." 

Sergeant  Strew  looked  rather  mystified  and  furtive 
ly  felt  of  his  forehead  as  though  in  doubt  of  the  perm- 


44  IN  THE  LAND  OP  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

anence  of  any  change  wrought  by  his  own  imagination, 
but  the  wound  was  still  healed  and  he  gave  a  little 
sight  of  relief. 

"Whew!"  he  said,  "If  I'd  only  known  how  to  do 
that  before ! "  He  turnel  to  the  Elder  Brother :  * '  You 
really  mean  that  I  healed  myself?" 

'  *  Exactly  that.  You  healed  yourself,  and  the  stuff 
I  smeared  on  was  merely  to  help  you  concentrate.  If 
you  had  had  your  arm  blown  off  and  had  come  over 
with  only  one  arm  you  could  have  replaced  your  arm 
with  as  much  ease  as  you  have  healed  this  wound. 
Matter  on  this  side  of  the  veil  is  wonderfully  amen 
able  to  the  power  of  the  will,  and  the  task  which  I 
wish  to  set  you  about  at  once  is  that  of  meeting  your 
comrades  when  they  pass  over,  quieting  them  and 
showing  them  how  to  heal  their  wounds  and  also 
drawing  them  away  from  the  battle  lines. 

"For  those  who  pass  over,  the  war  has  ended,  and 
it  is  their  duty  as  well  as  their  privilege  to  help,  not 
by  fighting,  but  by  getting  others  to  stop  fighting  and 
to  begin  to  turn  their  thoughts  away  from  the  earth 
plane  and  towards  the  great  future  and  the  tasks  and 
duties  which  it  holds. ' ' 

"But  suppose  the  bosckes  make  a  raid.  What  shall 
I  do?  How  can  I  help  fighting?" 

"By  simply  refusing  to  fight.  You  are  not  now  on 
the  physical  plane  where  you  could  be  compelled  to 
fight.  The  Germans  cannot  hurt  you  even  if  they 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  45 

do  make  a  raid  and  surround  you.  All  you  have  to 
do  is  to  obey  orders;  ignore  the  Germans  unless  you 
can  speak  German,  in  which  case  it  is  your  duty  to 
help  them  to  stop  fighting  and  to  heal  their  wounds 
just  as  much  as  it  is  your  duty  to  help  your  own 
comrades. 

* '  And  remember  that  while  you  are  doing  this  work 
you  are  doing  the  work  of  the  Master,  and  the  power 
and  the  strength  of  the  Master  are  with  you  so  that 
nothing  can  hurt  you.  Only  if  you  disobey  orders  and 
let  your  anger  rise  and  attempt  to  injure  anyone — 
only  then  could  you  be  hurt.  To  put  it  shortly — 
obey  orders  and  you  are  perfectly  safe  even  if  your 
work  takes  you  into  the  middle  of  the  whole  German 
army.  Disobey  or  let  your  passions  lead  you  into 
hatred  and  anger  and  you  will  not  be  safe  even  if 
alone  on  an  island  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Do  you  un 
derstand  ? ' ' 

The  Elder  Brother  drew  himself  up  as  if  he  were  a 
soldier  standing  at  "attention."  The  sergeant  was 
much  impressed  and  clicked  his  heels  together  as  he 
saluted,  saying, 

' '  Your  orders  shall  be  obeyed,  sir. ' ' 

"Just  a  moment,  Sergeant." 

The  Elder  Brother  stood  very  still  for  a  moment, 
apparently  thinking.  He  had  stood  in  this  attitude 
for  about  a  minute  when  the  door  opened  and  a  man 


46  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

in  the  uniform  of  a  Canadian  soldier  entered. 

"You  called,  sir?" 

"Yes.  Please  go  with  Sergeant  Strew  and  show 
him  how  we  do  our  work.  You  would  not  be  called 
into  active  service  so  soon,  Sergeant,"  the  Elder 
Brother  went  on,  addressing  our  friend,  "but  the 
Germans  are  about  to  start  another  drive  and  a  great 
many  on  both  sides  will  be  killed;  and  we  need  all 
our  workers  and  many  more.  I  am  sure  that  you 
will  do  what  you  can  to  help  those  whom  you  can  in 
fluence  to  quit  the  fighting  and  turn  their  attention 
to  other  things,  now  that  they  are  on  this  side  of  the 
veil." 

Sergeant  Strew  and  the  Canadian  saluted  and  went 
out. 

What  happened  to  the  sergeant  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  was  inducted  into  the  work  of  the  great  band 
of  invisible  helpers  who  are  striving  with  might  and 
main  to  avert  a  grave  disaster  to  the  world,  Jimmie 
learned  later.  It  was-  replete  with  adventure  and 
many  terrible  things,  also  some  that  were  almost 
comic,  but  that  is  not  really  a  part  of  this  narrative. 

The  Elder  Brother  stood  for  a  moment  lost  in 
thought  after  the  departure  of  Sergeant  Strew,  and 
Jimmie  watched  him,  waiting  for  him  to  speak.  Af 
ter  a  few  minutes  Jimmie  broke  the  silence  himself. 

"You  spoke  of  my  having  certain  duties,  too,  sir?" 

"Yes.     But  yours  are  different  from  those  of  the 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  47 

sergeant.  You  are  to  learn  as  much  as  possible  be 
cause  the  field  of  your  activity  will  not  be  here.  You 
are  going  back." 

"Back?" 

"Yes.  You  were  not  killed  but  only  stunned,  and 
when  the  right  time  comes  you  will  be  sent  back  to 
work  in  your  own  body  again  on  the  physical  plane. 
There  it  will  be  your  great  and  high  privilege  to  tell, 
so  far  as  lies  in  your  power,  the  wonderful  things 
which  will  be  shown  you  and  taught  you  here. 

"But  if  I  am  not  dead,  then  is  not  all  this  a  dream? 
And  Marjorie  told  me  I  was  dead.  Did  I  only  imag 
ine  I  saw  Marjorie?" 

"No.  You  really  saw  Marjorie  and  talked  to  her; 
also,  you  are  really  over  here  now,  because  it  is  not 
necessary  that  one  die  in  order  to  come  over  to  this 
country.  Marjorie  was  mistaken  and  very  naturally 
so;  the  fact  is  that  for  some  little  time  is  was  un 
certain  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  re-integrate 
your  etheric  body  quickly  enough.  But  your  work  is 
needed  on  earth;  you  have  earned  the  chance  in  your 
former  lives  and  as  there  is  a  very  great  need,  special 
help  has  been  given  you.  Neither  you  nor  Marjorie 
stopped  to  think  that  you  have  no  wound." 

"That's  right,"  Jimmie  said,  "come  to  think  of  it  I 
haven't  any  wound.  I  hadn't  stopped  to  think  of 
that  before.  And  yet  I  remember  that  I  've  seen  lots 
of  dead  men  on  the  fields  who  had  no  wound. ' ' 


48  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"That  is  very  true.  They  were  killed  by  shell 
shock,  and  that  is  the  very  thing  which  nearly  killed 
you  by  driving  your  vital  body  out  of  your  physical 
almost  to  the  point  of  rupturing  the  silver  cord.  But 
for  the  fact  that  you  are  needed  and  were  given  extra 
help,  you  would  be  really  and  absolutely  dead,  as  you 
call  it ;  you  would  be  on  this  side  of  the  veil  with  no 
chance  of  going  back.  But  because  in  your  past  lives 
you  made  a  start  on  the  Path,  took  the  vow  of  service, 
and  by  your  work  earned  the  opportunity  for  more 
service,  it  came  to  pass  that  when  your  etheric  body 
was  driven  out  by  the  explosion  of  the  shell,  the  par 
ticles  of  your  vital  body  were  kept  from  utter  disrup 
tion  ;  and  when  the  time  comes  for  you  to  go  back  to 
the  physical  body  which  is  even  now  lying  in  a  hos 
pital  back  of  the  lines,  you  will  be  helped  to  take  with 
you  the  memory  of  what  you  have  seen  and  heard 
here  so  that  you  can  work  to  better  advantage.  In 
your  sleep  you  have  frequently  seen  and  talked  with 
Marjorie,  and  you  have  had  many  gliding  trips  with 
her  in  your  dreams.  But  this  time  you  were  quite 
different,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  she  was  mistaken. ' ' 
' '  But  I  have  never  dreamed  of  her,  sir ;  it  has  always 
been  one  of  the  great  regrets  of  my  life." 

"Yes!  Although  you  never  dreamed  of  her,  yet 
you  and  she  met  often  and  had  many  long  trips  to 
gether,  for  during  sleep  we  are  generally  away  from 
our  bodies  in  Dreamland,  though  very  few  are  able 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  49 

to  take  back  the  memory  of  their  visits  to  this  land  of 
the  living  dead,  and  those  who  are  beginning  to  be 
able  to  do  so,  take  back,  quite  often,  only  distorted  and 
mixed  up  memories.  One  of  the  things  I  hope  you 
will  soon  learn  to  do  when  you  go  back  is  to  carry 
your  consciousness  through." 

"You  say  it  can  be  done?" 

"Indeed  yes;  it  is  far  easier  than  it  would  seem 
and  especially  for  souls  that  are  well  advanced.  In 
fact  it  is  a  constant  wonder  to  me  that  more  people 
are  not  able  to  do  it.  You  have  earned  the  privilege 
of  doing  this  during  your  last  two  or  three  lives,  and 
it  will  not  be  a  very  difficult  task  for  you  to  acquire 
the  ability. " 

"My  last  two  or  three  lives?  What  do  you  mean 
by  that?  Do  you  mean  that  I  have  lived  before?" 

"Exactly." 

"Where?" 

"On  earth.  And  your  last  life  was  spent  not  so 
very  far  from  where  we  are  now,  that  is,  it  was  in 
southern  Europe." 

"But  I  always  thought  that  when  one  died,  he  died; 
and  that  he  either  went  to  heaven  or  to — to  the  other 
place." 

"No!  The  scheme  of  human  evolution  is  far 
greater  and  grander  than  that.  And  it  is  because  it 
is  so  much  more  complex,  and  because  of  the  great 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  and  the  fact  that  you  can 

4 


50  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

be  of  great  usefulness,  that  you  are  to  be  helped  to 
go  back.  But  first  I  want  you  to  take  a  little  trip 
with  me." 

He  beckoned  to  Jimmie,  who  followed  him  outside 
and  took  his  hand  in  obedience  to  a  gesture.  There 
was  a  period  of  rapid  traveling  during  which  Jimmie 
caught  only  faint  glimpses  of  the  parts  of  the  earth 
over  which  they  flew,  and  before  a  minute  had 
elapsed  they  stood  in  a  poorly  furnished  room  where 
a  woman  sat  sewing  by  a  small  table  while  two  little 
children  were  playing  on  the  floor  beside  her.  As  she 
sewed,  the  tears  dropped  slowly  down  her  cheeks 
though  she  made  no  sound,  only  occasionaly  looking 
towards  the  table  where  lay  an  open  letter. 

The  Elder  Brother  stood  very  quietly  in  a  corner. 
His  grave  face  showed  the  pity  which  he  felt,  while 
Jimmie  moved  towards  the  table  and  glanced  at  the 
letter.  It  was  the  terse,  formal,  Government  an 
nouncement  that  Henry  L.  E —  had  been  mortally 
wounded  in  battle. 

Instinctively  he  drew  back  in  respect  for  a  grief 
so  great.  As  he  did  so,  a  man  in  uniform  entered 
through  the  closed  door  and  stood  there,  his  hands 
outstretched  towards  the  woman,  who  paid  no  atten 
tion  to  him.  In  his  tunic,  just  over  the  heart  there 
was  a  little  round  hole,  and  the  tunic  was  stained 
with  blood. 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  51 

' '  0  Emma, ' '  the  newcomer  broke  the  silence :  '  *  Em 
ma!"  he  cried,  with  a  little  break  in  his  voice. 

The  woman  did  not  answer,  but  she  seemed  a  little 
uneasy  and  raised  her  head  as  though  listening  for 
some  expected  or  hoped-for  sound.  The  youngest 
child  crept  on  all  fours  towards  the  man  in  uniform, 
uttering  little  gurgles  of  welcome  which  with  a  few 
months  more  practice  might  have  developed  into  the 
familiar  " Daddy/' 

With  a  sob  the  woman  caught  up  the  child ;  ' 1  No, 
no,  dear!  Daddy  hasn't  come  yet.  He  hasn't  come 
yet!" 

"The  baby  sees  him,"  said  the  Elder  Brother  to 
Jimmie,  "but  the  woman  does  not,  and  perhaps  it  is 
just  as  well.  When  she  goes  to  sleep  tonight,"  he 
gaid,  turning  to  the  man  in  uniform  and  touching  him 
on  the  arm,  "When  she  goes  to  sleep  tonight  she  will 
leave  her  body  and  will  be  with  you  until  she  wakes 
in  the  morning.  Then  you  will  remember  but  she  will 
not.  Every  night  you  will  be  able  to  meet  her  and 
talk  to  her,  and  so  you  can  help  her  to  hear  the  bur 
den.  In  the  meantime  remember  that  your  sepera- 
tion  is  only  temporary  and  that  you  will  see  her  and 
be  with  her  and  the  children  every  night  when  they 
are  asleep.  You  see,  your  parting  is  only  temporary, 
after  all.  She  has  much  the  heavier  burden  to  bear." 

The  man  in  uniform  held  out  his  hand. 


52  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

''Thank  you,  Mister.  You've  taken  a  heavy  load 
off  my  mind." 

The  Elder  Brother  motioned  to  Jimmie  and  to 
gether  they  left  by  the  now  familiar  glide,  passing 
through  the  wall  as  though  it  had  not  been  there. 
Outside  they  found  themselves  in  the  environs  of  a 
large  city,  and  the  Elder  Brother  chose  a  shaded  side 
street,  and  moved  along  it  slowly,  almost  walking. 
Not  many  people  were  on  the  street,  and  those  they 
met  paid  no  attention  to  them,  evidently  not  seeing 
them.  It  caused  Jimmie  no  little  exertion  at  first  to 
dodge  pedestrians  as  they  walked  unconcernedly  along 
the  pavement.  The  Elder  Brother,  however,  paid  no 
attention  to  the  people  any  more  than  they  minded 
him,  and  walked  right  through  them  with  as  little 
concern  as  though  they  had  been  mere  shadows.  Jim 
mie  watched  him,  then  tried  it  himself  and  found  to 
his  relief  that  it  caused  him  no  inconvenience  to  walk 
through  a  person  on  the  street,  and  that  it  was  the 
only  reasonable  thing  to  do. 

"I  have  shown  you  a  little  of  the  suffering  caused 
by  the  war,"  the  Elder  Brother  said  at  length,  "not 
that  you  did  not  already  know  about  it  but  merely  to 
bring  home  to  you  the  fact  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  agony  caused  by  the  conflict  arises  from  the  idea 
that  death  means  a  complete  and  probably  permanent 
separation.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  most  people 
would  tell  you,  if  you  asked,  that  they  firmly  believe 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  53 

in  a  future  life,  the  fact  remains  that  few  of  them  be- 
believe  in  it  to  the  point  of  realization. 

"  Death  they  can  see  and  one-half  of  it  they  think 
they  understand,  but  as  to  the  life  beyond  they  are 
more  or  less  uncertain.  If  they  could  only  know,  not 
as  a  theory  but  as  a  fact,  that  they  are  spirits,  .chil 
dren  of  the  Great  Father  in  heaven,  and  as  such  can 
no  more  die  than  He  can,  and  if  they  could  only  re 
alize  that  this  life  is  not  the  only  one  on  earth,  but 
that  humanity  lives  again  and  again  in  constantly 
improving  bodies  and  surroundings,  also  that  their 
progress  is  ever  onward  and  upward,  it  could  be  much 
accelerated  and  they  could  be  spared  much  suffering 
by  thus  working  with  the  Great  Law.  If  they  could 
only  realize  that  they  make  their  own  troubles,  and 
that  the  misfortunes  which  they  bear  are  not  the  vis 
itations  of  a  capricious  deity  but  the  results  of  their 
own  disobedience  to  His  Will  (as  shown  in  His  great 
and  just  laws),  either  in  their  present  life  or  in  their 
past  lives,  and  that  just  in  proportion  as  they  obey 
His  moral  law  and  practice  the  mode  of  conduct  which 
Christ,  the  Great  Master,  laid  down,  just  so  far 
will  they  spare  themselves  suffering  and  fit  them 
selves  to  be  helpers  in  the  great  work  of  uplifting  their 
fellows." 

He  ceased  speaking,  his  face  glowing  with  light,  and 
as  Jimmie  noticed  a  nimbus  or  cloud  of  irridescent 
beauty  and  faintly  flushing  colors  surrounding  him, 


54  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

there  recurred  to  his  mind  an  old  verse  which  he  had 
heard  as  a  boy  somewhere : 

"How  bright  these  glorious  spirits  shine." 

"It  is  now  nearly  time  for  you  to  return,"  the 
Elder  Brother  continued,  "and  I  cannot  talk  with 
you  much  more,  so  I  will  keep  my  promise  and  let  you 
have  a  little  time  with  Marjorie.  But  before  we  part 
I  want  to  impress  upon  you  that  when  you  have  re 
covered  and  are  able  to  be  about,  I  would  like  you  to 
call  on  me  in  Paris." 

He  mentioned  a  street  and  number. 

"But  I  thought — I  thought  you  were — er — I 
thought  you  had — you  see  I  thought  you  lived  here 
altogether. ' ' 

The  Elder  Brother  laughed. 

* '  No,  indeed.  I  am  still  in  the  flesh,  and  when  you 
are  well  enough  I  shall  meet  you  in  Paris  and  that  will 
be  one  of  the  guarantees  to  you  that  all  this  is  not 
a  dream  but  a  reality." 

He  began  to  travel  rapidly,  and  Jimmie,  following 
in  obedience  to  a  gesture  of  command,  soon  found  him 
self  on  the  same  gently  sloping  meadow  where  he  had 
first  recovered  consciousness. 

"Marjorie  will  soon  be  here  and  I  will  leave  you 
to  her.  She  will  explain  some  things  to  you,  but  you 
are  not  to  look  upon  this  meeting  as  our  last  nor  on 
this  as  your  only  introduction  to  the  land  of  the  living 
dead.  Your  introduction  to  spiritual  things  has  come 


A  SOUL  FLIGHT  55 

in  a  different  manner  than  usual,  but  it  is  not  a  gift, 
for  you  have  earned  it,  and  it  will  be  your  duty  to 
work  ten  times  harder  from  now  on. ' ' 

"He'll  do  it,  too,  won't  you,  Jimmie?" 

Marjorie  who  had  come  up  unnoticed,  stood  smiling 
in  front  of  them.  Jimmie  grasped  her  hand  and 
smiled  too. 

"Yes  indeed,  I  will,  sir." 

"Good-bye,  then,  for  a  while." 

Jimmie  looked  for  Marjorie  to  say  good-bye  to  the 
Elder  Brother,  but  to  his  surprise  they  were  alone. 

*  *  I've  heard  that  you  are  to  go  back,  and  I  'm  so  glad 
for  it  means  that  you  will  be  able  to  work  on  both 
sides  of  the  veil  at  once.  0  Jimmie,  how  I  envy  you 
your  chances  to  work ! ' ' 

The  rest  of  Jimmie 's  conversation  with  Marjorie, 
while  of  absorbing  interest  to  themselves,  does  not 
particularly  concern  our  story,  and  it  would  be  an 
abuse  of  our  clairvoyant  privileges  to  set  it  down. 
Jimmie  spoke  of  his  disappointment  in  the  fact  that  he 
had  not  been  shown  the  great  sights  which  had  been 
promised  him  nor  given  any  instructions  as  to  the 
"work"  which  he  was  to  do. 

Marjorie  reassured  him,  and  so  absolute  was  her 
faith  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Elder  Brother  and  so  pos 
itive  her  assurances  that  Jimmie 's  doubts  were  set  at 
rest. 

His  eyes  had  been  growing  heavier  and  heavier  and 


56  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

an  overpowering  drowsiness  began  to  steal  upon  him 
for  which  he  tried  to  apologize,  but  Marjorie  only 
smiled  at  him  His  last  recollection  was  the  sight  of 
her  standing  there,  a  faint  glow  surrounding  her  and 
a  smile  on  her  face  as  she  said. 

' '  You  're  going  back ! ' ' 

Then  darkness  seemed  to  cover  all  the  Land  of  the 
Living  Dead. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BACK  TO  EARTH— A  PRETTY  NURSE 

A  SENSATION  of  falling ;  great  swirling  masses 
of  darkness,  felt,  not  seen;  the  impression  of 
rushing  through  space  at  dizzy  speed,  alone,  now  head 
first,  now  feet  foremost,  utterly  helpless  to  control 
the  terrific  plunge,  yet  with  it  all  not  uncomfortable 
nor  particularly  uneasy,  merely  curious  to  know  the 
result  of  this  unguided  and  precipitate  excursion; 
dimly  conscious  of  a  lessening  of  the  darkness  and 
speed,  a  gradually  increasing  glow  of  twilight  with  no 
particular  source  and  disclosing  nothing  in  particular. 
Aeons  of  time  were  passing ;  a  final  appearance  of  the 
sun  seen  dimly  through  clouds  and  fog,  and  little  by 
little  a  clearing  of  the  vision.  Ages  passed  and  the 
clouds  became  lighter  and  more  rosy;  a  final  slow 
change  of  the  sun  into  the  glint  of  daylight  on  a 
swinging  incandescent  globe  and  the  rosy  clouds  into 
a  white  ceiling  and  walls.  Nothing  more  was  visible. 
A  shadow  fell  upon  the  wall,  and  across  the  range  of 
vision  moved  the  head  of  a  young  goddess  wearing 
the  uniform  cap  of  the  Red  Cross. 

57 


58  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

She  looked  a  little  like  Marjorie.  .  .  Who  was 
Marjorie  ?  He  tried  to  remember.  The  name  came  to 
him  easily,  Marjorie — Marjorie — who  was  Marjorie? 

Who  was  he,  himself?  Jim,  Jimmie — who  was 
Jimmie ?  Where  did  he  come  from?  Familiar  name ! 
They  called  him  Jimmie.  They?  Who?  Who  were 
' '  they  ? ' '  Marjorie  called  him  Jimmie. 

Who  was  that  girl  in  the  Red  Cross  cap  who  looked 
a  little  like  Marjorie?  She  had  stopped  and  was 
looking  at  him.  No,  she  was  not  Marjorie.  Marjorie 
was  much  prettier  and  Marjorie  had  a  soft  glow  of 
light  about  her.  Marjorie  had  seemed  to  be  so  much 
more  alive  than  this  girl  and  Marjorie  glowed  with 
light.  This  girl  didn  't  glow.  Probably  not  her  fault. 
Naturally,  few  girls  could  glow  like  Marjorie — he 
smiled. 

What  was  it  that  Marjorie  had  called  it?  Oh  yes, 
an  aura — aura. 

The  girl  in  the  Red  Cross  cap  was  smiling  at 
him  now  but  she  didn't  glow  like  Marjorie.  Still 
she  had  a  sweet  smile.  She  was  a  nice  girl.  He  knew 
it.  She  ought  to  glow.  He  would  speak  to  her. 

A  Red  Cross  nurse,  passing  on  her  rounds  among 
her  patients,  saw  one  without  a  wound,  who  had  lain 
unconscious  for  days,  suffering  from  shell  shock,  but 
whom  they  had  been  unable  to  rouse,  and  as  she 
glanced  at  him  she  was  surprised  and  pleased  at  see- 


BACK  TO  EARTH— A  PRETTY  NURSE  59 

ing  his  eyes  open  and  that  he  showed  consciousness. 
He  was  watching  her  and  his  lips  were  moving 
feebly.  She  stepped  to  his  side  and  bent  her  head 
until  her  ear  was  close  to  his  lips.  Then,  only,  she 
could  faintly  hear  his  words. 

' '  You  're  not  glowing.     Where 's  your  aura  ? ' ' 
The  mystified  nurse  stroked  his  forehead  gently  as 
she  straightened  up,  a  great  surge  of  pity  for  this  poor 
human  wreck  of  battle  sweeping  over  her.     His  lips 
moved  again,  and  again  she  bent  to  listen. 
"  'Scuse  me.     My  mistake.    You've  got  it." 
* '  Go  to  sleep  now,  you  're  very  much  better. ' ' 
She  laid  her  hand  on  his  head  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  as  his  regular  breathing  showed  that  he  had 
followed  her  direction,  she  moved  away  on  her  rounds. 
Later,  in  making  her  report  to  the  head  nurse  she  re 
marked  that  number  32  had  regained  consciousness 
but  was  apparently  a  little  "off,"  as  he  had  asked 
foolish  questions  about  why  she  did    not    glow    and 
where  her  aura  was. 

"What  is  an  'aura'?"  she  asked  the  head  nurse. 
"It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  heard  the  word  some 
where.  ' ' 

"I  don't  know,  child.  I  don't  think  there  is  any 
such  thing.  He's  just  out  of  his  head." 

Jimmie  awoke  from  his  sleep  some  hours  later  with 
his  head  fairly  clear  as  to  outward  impressions  but 
very  confused  as  to  other  things.  He  went  back  over 


60  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

his  experiences  with  Sergeant  Strew,  the  Elder 
Brother,  and  Marjorie.  They  were  vivid  and  distinct 
and  he  could  remember  almost  every  word,  especially 
Marjorie's,  but  how  did  he  come  to  be  here  and  where 
was  "here?"  There  were  no  hospitals  in  the  ordin 
ary  meaning  of  the  term  over  there,  yet  he  was  in  a 
hospital.  Also  the  nurse  walked  and  did  not  glide, 
and  she  had  no  aura  though  he  remembered  dimly  that 
as  she  had  bent  over  him  when  he  first  awoke  and  had 
touched  his  forehead  so  soothingly  she  had  seemed  to 
glow — yes,  he  remembered  that  she  had  all  of  a  sudden 
been  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  faint  purple.  He  had 
said  something  to  her  at  the  time  but  he  could  not 
remember  now  what  it  was.  He  didn't  care  particu 
larly.  It  was  enough  just  to  lie  here  quietly  and  not 
think  at  all — not  more  than  he  had  to,  anyhow.  This 
place  might  or  might  not  be  heaven,  but  it  certainly 
was  very  comfortable. 

The  nurse  again  stopped  at  his  side.  He  smiled  up 
at  her,  too  comfortable  and  entirely  satisfied  to  do 
more  than  smile.  But  she  was  a  competent  young  wo 
man  and  did  not  approve  of  nurses  smiling  at  patients 
or  patients  at  nurses.  She  wanted  to  know  how  he 
felt  and  what  his  temperature  was  and  insisted  on 
shaking  up  his  pillow  and  generally  rousing  him  in 
a  gentle  way.  But  he  didn't  care.  Who  could  be  an 
noyed  by  the  attentions  of  a  goddess?  Now  that  he 
was  aroused  enough  to  talk,  he  would  find  out  where 


BACK  TO  EARTH — A  PRETTY  NURSE  61 

he  was.  He  would  go  about  it  diplomatically  so  that 
she  would  not  know  what  he  was  trying  to  find  out. 
He  spoke,  and  she  was  glad  to  hear  his  voice  so  much 
stronger. 

"Why  don't  you  glide?" 

Poor  fellow!  His  voice  was  stronger  but  evident 
ly  his  mind  was  wandering.  Still  one  can  often  ac 
complish  a  great  deal  by  humoring  such  cases,  so  she 
answered : 

"Why,  don't  you  know  that  we're  not  allowed  to 
dance  in  here,  and  besides,  no  one  glides  now.  The 
only  dances  we  have  are  the  waltz  and  two  or  three 
other  dance  steps,  but  the  glide  is  out  of  date. 

He  looked  at  her,  puzzled.  Maybe  it  wasn't  heaven. 
Maybe  it  was — no — it  couldn't  be.  Her  face  was  too 
sweet  and  altogether  wholesome  for  that. 

"Tell  me — say — "     She  bent  down  in  sympathy 
at  sight  of  so  strong  a  man  lying  so  helpless,  in  expec 
tation  of  some  piteous  revelation  of  shattered  reason. 

"Where'm  I  at?" 

The  revulsion  of  feeling  was  too  much  for  her  and 
she  laughed  outright.  When  she  could  stop  laugh 
ing  long  enough  to  talk  she  answered  his  question. 

"You're  in  the  American  Hospital  at  Paris,  France, 
and  it's  certain  you're  ever  so  much  better — that  is 
all  except  your  grammar." 

Again,  in  watching  her,  he  saw  that  wave  of  color 
surround  her  like  a  glow  of  purple  light  and  he 


62  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

needed  no  words  to  tell  him  that  though  she  might  not 
glide  nor  know  what  an  aura  was,  yet  she  was  a  true 
sister  to  those  compassionate  ones  who  spend  their 
time  in  helping  others  even  as  the  Master  does.  He 
knew,  though  he  knew  not  how  he  knew,  that  such  a 
glowing,  pulsing,  gentle,  radiance  cannot  be  counter 
feited  by  any  art,  skill,  knowledge,  or  power  however 
great.  Nothing  can  produce  it  but  purity,  kindliness, 
love,  and  service.  So  he  was  satisfied  for  the  time 
and  lay  back  on  his  pillow  and  in  a  few  seconds  was 
asleep. 

It  was  a  whole  day  later  before  he  awoke  again,  this 
time  in  the  full  possession  of  his  senses  and  memory, 
and  when  the  nurse  of  the  kindly  face  and  the  beauti 
ful  aura  made  her  rounds,  she  met  a  look  of  full  rec 
ognition  which  told  her  at  a  glance  that  Jimmie's  mind 
was  entirely  restored. 

"Good  morning,"  she  said  smiling,  "how's  my 
shell  shocked  patient  this  morning?  Still  suffering 
from  dislocation  of  grammar?" 

Jimmie  grinned,  "What  did  I  say  to  you  yester 
day?" 

"Oh  nothing  much.  You  were  naturally  a  little 
light  headed  and  you  said  some  queer  things.  You 
asked  me  why  I  didn't  dance  and  where  my  aura  was 
and  why  I  didn't  glow.  By  the  way,  what  is  an  aura? 
Is  there  such  a  thing,  or  did  you  just  imagine  the 
word?" 


BACK  TO  EARTH — A  PRETTY  NURSE  63 

"I  don't  know  that  I  can  tell  you  just  what  an  aura 
is.  I've  heard  the  word  and  I  think  I  know  what  it 
means.  I'll  tell  you  about  it." 

Three  days  later  Jimmie  was  allowed  to  go  out  for 
a  walk.  He  felt  practically  well  and  very  hungry 
but  had  to  promise  that  if  allowed  to  go  out  he  would 
not  buy  anything  to  eat. 

1 '  I  don 't  know  whether  I  can  trust  you  or  not, ' '  the 
doctor  had  said;  "it  may  be  better  for  Miss  Louise 
to  go  with  you.' 

'  *  I  think  very  likely  it  would ' '  said  Jimmie  thought 
fully,  "I  think  it  would  be  much  better." 

Miss  Louise  did  not  seem  averse  to  a  little  walk  when 
the  doctor  asked  her  if  she  would  take  her  patient  out 
for  a  stroll,  and  in  fact  appeared  rather  proud  of  the 
tall  young  lieutenant  in  his  newly  cleaned  and  pressed 
uniform  from  which  all  traces  of  the  trench  mud  had 
been  removed  in  the  hospital  laundry. 

" Which  way  shall  we  go?"  she  asked  as  they 
passed  out  of  the  hospital  gate. 

"Do  you  know  where  the  Rue  de  la  Ex  is?" 

"No,  but  we  can  ask." 

They  asked.  He  asked  in  the  best  trench  French, 
and  she  asked  with  a  charming  little  hesitation  in  her 
accent  and  a  most  bewitching  interrogatory  raise  of 
her  eyebrows,  but  neither  of  them  could  make  any 
thing  of  the  answers  they  received.  The  replies  were 


64  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

hidden  in  such  a  torrent  of  verbosity  and  gesticula 
tion  that  they  were  left  no  wiser  than  before. 

"I  know  what's  the  trouble,"  said  Jimmie  after  the 
eighth  or  ninth  native  had  left  them  in  a  maze  of 
waving  hands  and  shrugging  shoulders. 

"Oh  what  is  it?  I'm  so  mortified  about  my 
French !" 

"Why  it's  all  your  fault." 

1 '  My  fault  ? ' '  her  eyebrows  went  up  in  a  distracting 
arch,  "why?" 

"Why,  these  natives  take  a  look  at  you  and  get  so 
excited  they  can't  talk  sense.  I  don't  blame  them 
either." 

"Well  I  like  that!  Am  I  as  bad  looking  as  that?" 

"I  didn't  say  you  were  bad  looking.  I  said  they 
looked  at  you  and  got  excited." 

"Well!  That's  just  the  same  as  saying  I'm  bad 
looking.  Thank  you,  Mister  Lieutenant  James  West- 
man  for  your  kind  opinion. ' ' 

"Fishing!" 

"What  do  you  mean,  'fishing'?" 

Jimmie  saw  his  mistake  and  was  afraid.  He  had 
not  realized  how  much  her  good  opinion  meant  to 
him,  and  now  that  it  was  in  danger  he  was  distinctly 
nervous. 

"Why,  you  know,  Miss  Louise,  just  what  I  mean. 
If  you  don't  I'm  going  to  tell  you.  I  mean  just  this 
— say!  you  won't  get  mad  if  I  tell  you?" 


BACK  TO  EARTH— A  PRETTY  NURSE  65 

"Why  I'm  mad  now — quite  mad.  You  said  I  am 
so  ugly  that  nobody  can  look  at  me  without  getting 
excited. ' ' 

"No,  I  didn't  either,  and  I'm  going  to  tell  you  now 
whether  you  get  mad  or  not.  What  I  mean  is  that 
you  are  so  pretty  that  when  anyone  looks  at  you  he 
just  naturally — just — " 

"Just  what?" 

' '  Just  naturally  loses  his  head,  that 's  what.  That 's 
just  what  I  do  every  time  I  look  at  you.  Now  get 
mad,  if  you  want  to." 

Silence. 

"Are  you  mad?" 

More  silence. 

"Are  you?" 

Her  head  was  averted  but  as  he  bent  to  listen  he 
thought  he  caught  the  words, 

"Not  very." 

Jimmie's  nature  was  to  be  carried  away  by  his  en 
thusiasm  when  he  was  greatly  interested  in  a  subject 
and  he  was  carried  away  now. 

'  *  And  I  '11  tell  you  more  and  you  can  get  mad  if  you 
want  to,  just  as  mad  as  you  like.  I  know  I've  no 
right  to  say  it,  but  I  think  it  and  I  say  you're  the 
prettiest  and  sweetest  and  the  nicest  and  the  dearest 
girl  in — in — "  before  Jimmie's  memory  flashed  the 
picture  of  that  other  girl — dancing,  tripping,  airy, 
gliding,  glowing  Marjorie,  golden  Marjorie,  sweet- 

5 


66  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

voiced  gentle  Marjorie,  and  he  hesitated  in  his  speech. 
Was  he  true,  he  wondered.  His  conscience  smote  him 
a  little.  Was  it  right  to  make  love  to  two  girls?  He 
faltered.  "In  France,"  he  ended  lamely. 

Louise  noted  the  falter  in  his  voice.  She  did  not 
know  whether  she  was  in  love  with  this  man  or  not. 
She  had  not  tried  to  analyze  her  feelings,  but  she  had 
thought  that  she  was  going  to  hear  a  proposal,  and 
she  was  disappointed.  This  falter  in  his  voice  was 
too  much  of  an  anti-climax  in  his  somewhat  fiery 
speech,  and  while  she  did  not  understand,  yet  she  was 
at  a  loss  how  to  explain  in  any  other  than  the  ordin- 
any  way ;  clearly  he  had  a  sweetheart  at  home.  Gently 
she  disengaged  herself  from  his  grasp  and  slowly 
turned  towards  him. 

"I— I— think  I'd  better  go  now,  Mr.  Westman." 
There  was  just  the  faintest  trace  of  a  catch  in  her 
voice. 

"Louise!  Oh  Louise!  Don't  think  that  of  me.  I 
know  what  you  are  thinking  of,  but  it's  all  a  mistake 
dear.  "Won't  you  listen  to  me?" 

She  hesitated,  provoked  that  he  had  tried  to  make 
love  to  her  while  he  had  a  sweetheart  in  America,  yet 
unwilling,  too,  to  break  with  him  entirely  until  she 
was  sure  that  there  was  no  misunderstanding. 

"Well  Mr.  Westman,  what  do  you  wish  to  say?" 

"I  say  you're  the  sweetest  girl  in  the  world!" 

"In  France,  you  mean?" 


BACK  TO  EARTH— A  PRETTY  NURSE  67 

"No,  in  the  whole  wide  world." 

"Are  you  sure?.  Don't  you  mean  in  France?" 

"  No !    I  'm  sure,  and  I  mean  anywhere ! ' ' 

' '  How  about  the  girl  back  home  ? ' ' 

"There  isn't  any!" 

She  looked  at  him  meditatively  at  first,  then  with 
a  little  touch  of  contempt  in  her  glance.  He  saw  it 
and  began  to  realize  that  his  situation  was  desperate. 
Like  a  flash  of  light  the  realization  came  upon  him 
that  he  loved  this  girl  and  must  not  lose  her.  He 
must  not. 

"Then  why  did  you  stammer  so  just  now?" 

"I'll  tell  you  and  you'll  understand  everything. 
Please  listen  to  me,  won't  you?" 

"I'm  listening  now  but  I'm  not  hearing  very 
much. ' ' 

' '  Well,  I  can  explain  all  about  it  as  we  walk  back. ' ' 

' '  Oh,  I  don 't  know,  Mr.  Westman,  I  'm  not  sure  that 
I  care  to  waste  time  over  things  that  have  to  be  'ex 
plained.  '  I  think  you  are  strong  enough  to  take  care 
of  yourself  now,  and  I  have  an  errand  I  want  to  do 
anyhow,  so  I'll  leave  you  here  and  hurry  along." 

She  left  him  in  spite  of  his  protests,  and  turned 
down  a  side  street  while  Jimmie,  loitering  on  the 
corner,  watched  her  in  the  hope  that  she  might  relent 
and  turn  or  look  back.  But  he  watched  in  vain. 

Sadly  he  turned  toward  the  hospital.  There  was 
nowhere  else  for  him  to  go.  He  did  not  care  to  visit 


68  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

a  club  or  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  he  was  too  sore  and  hurt  to 
mix  in  a  crowd  of  soldiers.  He  wanted  only  to  be 
alone  and  to  think  up  something  to  say  to  her  that 
would  change  her  mind.  Suddenly  the  Elder  Broth 
er  's  words  recurred  to  him : 

' '  Your  introduction  to  spiritual  things  has  come  in 
an  unusual  way,  but  it  is  not  a  gift  for  you  have 
earned  it,  and  it  will  be  your  duty  to  work  ten  times 
harder  from  now  on. ' ' 

He  saw  now  that  he  had  wholly  forgotten  his  prom 
ise  and  the  great  work,  whatever  that  might  be,  that 
was  contained  in  the  magic  word  "duty."  He  had 
somehow  carelessly  come  to  look  upon  his  wonderful 
experiences  as  upon  a  dream.  He  had  started  out  to 
find  the  address  given  by  the  Elder  Brother  and  had 
calmly  let  everything  go,  in  order  to  make  love  to  a 
girl!  Oh,  but  such  a  pretty  girl!  Thus  he 
justified  himself.  This  was  undoubtedly  a  tangle. 
He  was  in  love  with  two  girls,  both  beautiful  and 
sweet  and  altogether  lovely,  but  one  on  earth  and  one 
in — in — well,  say  in  Paradise.  He  could  marry  only 
one.  Would  that  offend  the  other?  Would  Louise 
believe  him  when  he  told  her  of  his  other  love  and 
would  she  be  jealous  or  not  ?  He  thought,  or  at  least 
he  hoped,  that  she  cared  for  him,  but  such  a  story  as 
his  would  be  hard  for  her  to  believe. 

Oh!  the  thought  just  struck  him;  The  Elder 
Brother  could  straighten  out  this  tangle  providing 


BACK  TO  EARTH — A  PRETTY  NURSE  69 

there  really  were  such  a  man.  He  did  not  know,  him 
self,  whether  to  believe  his  memory  or  not,  and  if  Tie 
had  any  doubts,  how  could  he  expect  Louise  to  believe  ? 
Was  there  an  Elder  Brother,  or  was  his  great  ad 
venture  but  another  cloud  of  the  stuff  that  dreams  are 
made  of?  Stupid!  There  was  proof — sure  proof — if 
he  could  only  find  it — proof  that  would  convince  even 
Louise  no  matter  how  skeptical  she  might  be.  Hurrah ! 
He  would  put  his  dream  to  the  test  and  proof  which 
the  Elder  Brother  himself  had  suggested,  and  in  doing 
so  he  would  prove  it  to  himself  and  to  Louise  at  the 
same  time. 

Some  French  children  playing  in  the  street  were 
astonished  to  see  a  lieutenant  of  "Les  Amis"  strolling 
slowly  along  the  pavement,  break  suddenly  into  a  run 
as  if  his  very  life  depended  upon  his  speed. 

Louise  had  not  yet  returned  to  the  hospital  when 
Jimmie  forced  himself  to  saunter  leisurely  in  at  the 
gate,  but  he  determined  to  lose  no  opportunity  and 
sat  down  in  an  easy  chair  to  wait  for  her. 

Louise  came  in,  feeling  repentant  for  her  exhibition 
of  temper.  After  all,  Jimmie  was  suffering  from 
shell  shock  and  such  patients  are  not  always  fully  re 
sponsible  for  their  actions.  Her  vigorous  walk  by  her 
self  had  done  her  good,  and  the  brisk  circulation  which 
it  had  induced  had  made  her  more  charitable  by 
sweeping  some  of  the  cobwebs  from  her  brain;  and 


70  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

also  it  had  brought  the  roses  to  her  cheeks,  though  of 
course  she  was  unaware  of  the  fact. 

Jimmie  sprang  from  his  chair  as  she  entered  or  at 
least  he  would  have  sprung  if  he  could.  As  it  was  he 
got  up  as  quickly  as  possible  and  came  to  meet  her, 
and  whether  or  not  there  are  such  things  as  auras  and 
whether  or  not  Louise  would  have  recognized  one  if 
she  had  seen  it,  the  fact  remains  that  before  Jimmie 
could  speak  a  word  she  knew  that  every  atom  of  his 
being  was  vibrant  with  apology  and  inquiry,  remind 
ing  her  of  nothing  so  much  as  a  big,  playful,  lovable 
puppy  in  an  agony  of  endeavor  to  please.  Could  she 
refuse  to  speak  to  him  for  a  few  minutes?  No,  of 
course  she  would  hear  what  he  had  to  say,  though 
he  must  hurry  for  she  went  on  duty  in  half  an  hour. 

And  so  Jimmie,  who  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  only  way  was  to  tell  her  exactly  how  matters 
stood,  led  her  out  into  the  little  garden  where  a  recre 
ation  ground  had  been  made  for  the  convalescent  pa 
tients,  and  there  poured  into  her  ears  the  story  of  his 
adventures  from  the  time  he  found  himself  walking 
along  the  meadow  until  he  finally  awoke  in  the  hos 
pital.  She  listened  with  interest,  especially  when  he 
spoke  of  Marjorie. 

11  And  so  you  see,"  he  explained,  "how  very  import 
ant  is  is  that  I  should  find  that  address,  because  if 


BACK  TO  EARTH — A  PRETTY  NURSE  71 

there  is  such  a  street  and  such  a  number  and  if  there 
is  a  man  named  Campion  living  there,  then  it  will 
prove  the  truth  of  all  that  I  have  told  you  and  he  will 
be  able  to  help  me  out  and  convince  you  that  the  story 
is  true." 

"  There  is  no  need  of  that,  Mr.  Westman,  because 
whether  or  not  the  things  you  have  told  me  really 
happened  does  not  effect  your  truthfulness  at  all.  I 
believe  every  word  you  have  said  and  I  think  it  won 
derful.  How  I  should  like  to  see  some  of  those  beau 
tiful  colors  you  speak  of.  And  Marjorie,  too;  she 
must  be  a  dear!" 

Jimmie's  heart  throbbed  violently  at  the  joyful 
revelation  that  she  accepted  his  story  as  true  and  con 
sequently  forgave  him  for  his  loyalty  to  Marjorie.  It 
was  evident  that  Louise  did  not  believe  in  the  actual 
truth  of  his  account,  but  so  intense  and  earnest  had 
been  his  manner  in  narrating  his  experiences  that, 
though  she  considered  the  whole  story  the  figment  of 
a  brain  suffering  from  shell  shock,  she  was  firmly 
convinced  that  he  believed  it.  That  was  all  she  really 
cared  about,  for  it  explained  his  hesitation  and  ac 
counted  for  his  loving  another  girl  as  well  as  herself, 
a  thing  which  she  could  in  no  wise  have  forgiven 
except  for  the  fact  that  the  other  girl  was  merely  a 


72  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

creature  of  the  imagination  and  had  no  existence  in 
reality. 

"Louise!  Say  Louise!" 

"Well?" 

"Gee!  I'm  glad  we've  had  this  talk.  You  know 
I  've  been  afraid  you  were  mad  at  me. ' ' 

"  So  I  was.  I  thought  you  were  trying  to  flirt  with 
me  while  all  the  time  you  had  a  sweetheart  back 
home. ' ' 

"I  don't  blame  you.  But  now  that  you  know  all 
about  it,  you've  forgiven  me,  haven't  you?" 

"Why,  Mr.  Westman,  how  absurd!  There  was 
nothing  to  forgive." 

"But  I  believe  when  you  thought  I  had  a  sweet 
heart  at  home  you  cared  a  little  bit  or  else  you 
wouldn't  have  got  mad.  Say!  Louise !"  he  dwelt  on 
the  word,  pronouncing  it  lingeringly.  "Louise — " 

"Well?" 

"Don't  you  think,  maybe,  after  a  while,  after  you 
know  me  a  little  better " 

"Well?" 

"Don't  you  think — maybe — perhaps — you  might 
come  to  care  a  little  more?" 

Silence.  He  took  her  hand  as  she  turned  her  face 
away. 

"Couldn't  you?" 

"Maybe—" 


BACK  TO  EARTH — A  PRETTY  NURSE  73 

The  next  day  Jimmie  sought  and  obtained  per 
mission  for  another  walk  and  for  Louise  to  accompany 
him,  which  he  assured  the  doctor  was  a  necessity  on 
account  of  the  dizzy  spells  which  might  seize  him  at 
any  time.  The  doctor  demurred  at  first  and  kindly 
offered  to  send  an  orderly  with  him  or  another  con 
valescent  soldier  who  would  not  be  subject  to 
" spells,"  but  Jimfrde's  consternation  was  so  evident 
that  being  very  human  and  a  kindly  enough  man, 
the  doctor  gave  the  necessary  permission  and  then 
disgusted  Jimmie  by  showing  a  quite  superfluous 
anxiety  in  the  matter,  through  an  alleged  fear  that 
the  " spells"  might  be  the  result  of  heart  disease. 

Louise  and  Jimmie  had  studied  the  map  of  Paris  in 
the  meantime  and  had  found  that  there  actually  was 
a  Rue  de  la  Ex,  but  this  proved  nothing,for  he  might 
have  heard  the  name  somewhere  and  the  subjective 
mind  with  its  wonderful  memory  might  have  brought 
that  particular  name  out  of  all  the  rubbish  with  which 
it  was  loaded  and  have  presented  it  to  his  shell  shock 
ed  imagination.  Jimmie  knew,  or  thought  he  knew,  a 
great  deal  about  the  subjective  mind  and  carefully 
explained  the  matter  to  Louise  as  they  walked  along, 
but  it  is  a  question  as  to  whether  his  somewhat  tech 
nical  language  enlightened  her  to  any  great  extent. 
Even  if  it  did  it  must  be  confessed  that  her  interest 
in  the  mysteries  of  the  subjective  mind  was  not  par 
ticularly  intense. 


74  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

Before  a  certain  house  in  the  Rue  de  la  Ex  they 
halted.  The  house  was  there,  but  that  proved  noth 
ing.  The  front  door  was  in  an  arched  passage  way 
which  led  to  an  inner  courtyard.  They  rang  the  bell. 
A  rattling  of  the  door  announced  that  someone  inside 
was  in  the  act  of  opening  it.  The  next  few  moments 
would  decide  the  matter. 


THK   KU>I-:IC   HKOTHKK  IN  Tin:   Ku.su 

JIM  Ml  K  and  Louise  awaited  (he  opening  of  the 
door  with  similar  forebodings.  Louise  did  not 
believe  a  single  word  of  the  wonderful  story  which 
Jimmie  had  told  her,  though  she  was  firmly  con- 
vineed  that  tJimmie  himself  believed  it.  Jimmie 
on  tho  other  hand,  with  his  vivid  memory  of  the  ad 
venture  was  eertain  that  it  had  really  happened,  but 
was  distrustful  of  the  outcome  of  this  physical  and 
concrete  test,  and  was  wondering  what  excuse  lie 
could  give  if,  as  he  feared,  the  house  should  prove 
to  be  tenanted  by  strangers. 

Louise  expected    the  door  to  be  opened    by   an   ordi 
nary   eoneierge   and    that    tho     inevitable   disillusion 
ment  would  follow;     she  was  trying  to  determine  in 
her  own  mind  what    she    could      say  to    help  .limmio 
over  his  disappointment. 

Jimmie  feu  rod  much  the  same  thing  and  was  cast 
ing  about  for  a  plausible  reason  to  give  Louise  for 
the  collapse  of  his  peculiar  vision  and  was  (hiding 
himself  quite  unsuccessful  in  the  attempt,  when  the 
door  opened. 

75 


76  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

Before  them,  with  a  welcoming  and  slightly  quiz 
zical  smile  as  though  he  had  in  some  way  divined 
their  perplexities,  stood  the  man  of  his  dream,  iden 
tical  in  every  particular  of  dress  and  feature  with 
the  strange  and  powerful  being  who  had  become 
familiar  to  him  in  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead  by 
the  appellation  of  the  " Elder  Brother." 

Mutely  accepting  his  cordial  invitation  they  en 
tered  a  well  furnished  library,  and  not  until  then  did 
Jimmie  recover  sufficiently  from  his  bewilderment 
to  introduce  his  companion.  With  some  embarrass 
ment  he  presented  Mr.  Campion  to  Miss  Louise  Clay 
ton,  with  the  brief  statement  that  Miss  Clayton  was 
the  nurse  who  had  taken  care  of  him  during  his  re 
covery;  that  he  had  told  her  of  his  great  adventure, 
and  had  asked  her  to  accompany  him  on  this  expe 
dition. 

' '  I  am  very  glad  that  you  did  so,  Lieutenant  West- 
man,  for  Miss  Clayton  was  selected  as  your  nurse 
for  several  reasons,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the 
fact  that  she  is  quite  an  advanced  soul  and  it  was 
determined  that  the  work  of  re-integrating  your 
vital  body  would  be  more  easily  and  quickly  done 
with  her  help  than  through  any  other  of  the  avail 
able  nurses.  You  see,  Miss  Clayton,  I  am  quite  well 
acquainted  with  you  though  we  have  never  met  be 
fore." 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  77 

Louise  answered  politely  and  somewhat  formally 
but  was  unable  to  quite  conceal  her  incredulity  at 
the  statement  which  Mr.  Campion  had  made. 

"Nevertheless,"  Mr.  Campion  continued  as  though 
answering  some  objection,  "you  were  selected  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  choice  is  apparent  in  the  result. 
You  have  a  strong  and  well  developed  aura,  and 
your  vibrations  are  harmonious,  owing  to  certain 
stellar  combinations  of  which  you  are  probably  un 
aware;  that  was  a  great  help  when  Jimmie  here 
(I  am  not  going  to  call  him  Lieutenant)  was  recover 
ing  consciouness.  You  will,  perhaps  remember  that 
as  you  bent  over  him  to  make  out  what  he  was  mum 
bling,  he  asked  you  why  you  didn't  glow  and  where 
your  aura  was  and  then  immediately  apologized  by 
assuring  you  that  you  did  glow?" 

Louise  was  perplexed.  No  one  else  had  been  pres 
ent  to  overhear  that  whispered  conversation.  The 
head  nurse  had  not  been  out  of  the  hospital  and  so 
could  not  have  hunted  up  this  man  and  told  him  of 
it,  besides  she  had  not  told  the  head  nurse  much  and 
had  not  spoken  of  it  at  all  to  any  one  else.  Jimmie 
she  was  sure,  had  not  been  out  of  the  hospital 
grounds  except  the  one  time  when  they  had  almost 
quarreled.  Could  he  have  written  to  this  man  or 
was  the  man  a  mind  reader?  If  Jimmie  had  written, 
then  he  was  deceiving  her.  If  the  man  was  a  mind 
reader,  then  he  was  an  uncannily  shrewd  one.  She 


78  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

did  not  know  what  to  say  and  so  kept  silent,  but  her 
glances  roved  about  the  room. 

Mr.  Champion  spoke: 

"Miss  Clayton,  you  will  pardon  me,  I  am  sure,  if 
I  endeavor  to  set  your  mind  at  rest  and,  incidentally, 
Jimmie's  also.  In  doing  so  it  will  be  necessary  to 
make  some  statements  which  cannot  be  proven  to 
you  now  and  the  explanation  of  which  would  require 
too  much  time,  so  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  hear  me 
patiently  and  reserve  your  judgment  until  later. 

"To  begin  with,  I  must  assure  you  that  you  are 
not  the  victim  of  any  prepared  plot  and  that  Jimmie 
has  not  written  to  me  nor  did  the  head  nurse  give  a 
second  thought  to  what  you  told  her. ' '  Louise  looked 
up  quickly,  her  eyes  wide  with  wonder.  "Then,  too, 
your  surprise  at  meeting  a  mind  reader  without  the 
usual  trappings  of  his  trade  was  perfectly  natural. 

"There  are  here  none  of  the  customary  parapher 
nalia  of  the  professional  wonder  worker,  and  you 
looked  in  vain  for  skulls  and  stuffed  owls  and  somber 
drapery.  I  assure  you  that  while  mind  reading  is 
not  at  all  difficult  to  the  trained  occultist,  yet  I  was 
not  reading  your  mind  when  I  spoke  of  your  few 
words  with  Jimmie  when  he  regained  consciousness 
I  know  what  you  said  because  I  was  there  at  the 
time—" 

Louise  looked  up,  again  with  a  gesture  of  surprise, 
and  started  to  speak  but  remembered  his  request. 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  79 

"I  was  there,  although  you  did  not  see  me  and  I 
followed  you  when  you  went  to  make  your  report 
to  the  head  nurse.  If  you  remember,  she  was  sitting 
at  a  desk  writing  and  when  you  spoke  to  her  you 
were  alone  in  the  office  with  her.  She  did  not  turn 
around  but  merely  stopped  writing  when  you  spoke 
to  her.  Then  she  answered  you,  'I  don't  think  there 
is  such  a  thing,  child.'  Also,  as  you  passed  out  of  the 
office  you  met  two  orderlies  bringing  in  a  wounded 
man  on  a  stretcher  and  just  then  one  of  them  stum 
bled.  You  thought  he  was  going  to  drop  his  burden  and 
you  gave  a  little  gasp  and  started  forward — There!" 
he  smiled  at  her,  "I  think  I  have  fully  exonerated 
our  friend  here,  for  he  could  not  have  written  me 
these  things." 

Louise  made  an  inimitably  graceful  little  gesture 
of  surrender. 

"And  now  for  the  reason  underlying  all  these 
strange  doings.  The  human  race  is  made  of  a  multi 
tude  of  individual  spirits  who  are  evolving  or  learn 
ing  by  repeated  rebirths  into  physical  bodies  on  the 
physical  plane,  where  they  learn  to  obey  the  great 
laws  of  our  Father  in  heaven  just  as  children  learn 
their  lessons  day  by  day  in  school.  In  this  great 
scheme  of  evolution  we  are  subject  to  the  operation 
of  two  great  laws:  First,  that  of  rebirth,  which 
brings  us  back  to  the  concrete  physical  world  again 
and  again,  in  constantly,  though  slowly  improving 


80  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

bodies  and  surroundings.  Second  the  law  of  conse 
quence  which  decrees  that  we  must  suffer  the  natural 
results  of  our  mistakes,  which  are  usually  called  sins, 
even  though  many  lives  may  sometimes  intervene  be 
tween  the  mistake  and  its  result. 

"In  order  that  this  period  of  birth  and  death  and 
learning  and  suffering  may  be  shortened,  as  much 
help  as  possible  is  given  the  race  by  great  hosts  of 
spiritual  beings  who  have  themselves  passed  through 
similar  schools.  There  are  times  (just  as  there  are 
examinations  in  every  school),  when  a  turning 
point  in  evolution  is  reached,  and  the  race  is,  as  we 
might  say,  examined  or  quizzed  to  see  which  classes 
of  entities  are  worthy  of  promotion. 

"This  great  war  is  the  most  tremendous  turning 
point  yet  reached  in  human  evolution,  and  the  need 
of  the  race  for  help  and  instruction  is  greater  than 
ever  before.  Help  can  be  given  in  some  respects  more 
effectively  by  advanced  members  of  the  same  race, 
and  for  that  reason  many  individuals  are  being  pro 
moted  just  now  for  the  assistance  and  teachings  which 
they  are  able  to  give.  The  need  is  tremendous — much 
more  so  than  either  you  or  Jimmie  realize,  and  it 
was  because  of  this  fact  that  Jimmie  was  sent  back 
to  the  physical  life,  for  he  would  otherwise  have  re 
mained  permanently  on  the  other  side.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  you  have  been  brought  here  with  him  for 
you  must  not  think  that  it  is  the  custom  of  occultists 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  81 

to  give  displays  of  power  merely  in  order  to  enter 
tain  people. 

"You  and  Jimmie  are  both  advanced  souls  (I  am 
not  saying  this  to  flatter  either  of  you)  and  in  a  fe  v 
more  lives  would  naturally  reach  the  point  to  which 
it  is  hoped  you  will  presently  attain  in  this  life  if  you 
are  willing  to  work.  Help  will  be  given  you,  but  you 
must  remember  the  words  of  the  Master  that  'Unto 
whom  much  is  given,  of  him  much  will  be  required.' 
So  the  choice  of  engaging  in  the  work  must  be 
a  purely  voluntary  one  and  not  be  made  lightly,  for 
as  the  benefit  is  great  if  we  receive  this  teaching 
worthily,  so  is  the  danger  great  if  we  receive  the 
same  unworthily." 

Jimmie  and  Louise  glanced  at  each  other,  both 
recognizing  the  allusion  to  that  beautiful  sentence 
in  the  communion  service.  Jimmie  spoke: 

"You  said  something  to  me  before,  sir,  about  the 
great  work,  but  you  did  not  say  what  it  was." 

"No.  For  some  time  it  was  uncertain  whether 
your  etheric  body  could  be  re-integrated  in  time,  and 
when  that  was  accomplished  there  was  no  oppor 
tunity  for  instruction." 

For  more  than  an  hour  Mr.  Campion  went  on, 
telling  them  about  the  different  planes  of  being  and 
the  different  bodies  corresponding  to  those  planes, 
and  outlining  the  work  of  the  Invisible  Helpers  with 
both  the  living  and  the  dead.  Louise  and  Jimmie 

6 


82  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

listened  with  wonder  which  gradually  changed  into 
aw;e  as  the  tremendous  Plan  was  sketched  out  for 
them.  Never  had  they  heard  the  like  of  it  and  yet 
it  all  seemed  strangely  familiar,  just  as  though  they 
ought  to  have  known  it  anyway.  As  Mr.  Campion 
proceeded  and  showed  how  it  all  fitted  in  with  the 
Scriptures  and  particularly  with  the  words  spoken 
by  the  Christ,  explaining  the  parables  and  throwing 
light  into  the  dark  and  hidden  places,  Louise  began 
to  realize  that  all  her  doubts  were  swept  away  and 
felt  ashamed  that  her  mind  had  ever  harbored  them. 
No  longer  did  she  think  of  "proofs."  No  proofs 
were  needed.  No  man,  however  great,  could  have 
invented  such  a  scheme  as  this.  Not  even  Mr. 
Campion,  mind  reader  and  occultist  or  whatever  he 
was,  could  have  originated  such  a  complicated,  inter 
locking  plan.  He  did  not  need  to  assure  her  that  it 
was  true.  She  knew  it  though  she  did  not  realize  how 
she  knew  it.  It  bore  the  imprint  and  signature  of 
Divinity  itself. 

Jimmie,  too,  had  listened,  absorbed.  The  things 
Mr.  Campion  was  telling  them  explained  some  of  the 
apparent  contradictions  which  he  had  observed  dur 
ing  his  brief  stay  on  the  other  side,  and  when  the 
theory  and  practice  of  attaining  the  freedom  of  the 
other  planes  of  being  were  detailed,  he  began  to 
understand  that  it  really  is  not  necessary  to  die  in 
order  to  prove  immortality. 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  83 

"But  why  was  it,  then,"  he  asked,  "if  there  is 
all  this  hard  work  to  be  done  on  the  other  side — why 
was  so  much  trouble  taken  to  send  me  back?" 

"Because  the  crying  need  is  for  those  on  this  side 
of  the  veil  who  know  the  fact  of  immortality,  who 
have  visited  the  other  country  and  have  returned, 
who  are  willing  and  able  to  make  their  knowledge 
known,  who  can  comfort  the  dying  and  more  espec 
ially  those  who  are  left  behind.  The  need  is  for  those 
who  can  say,  'I  know/  as  well  as,  'I  believe.'  ' 

"Then  if  I  persist  in  the  exercises  you  have  out 
lined,  you  think  that  I  can  develop  my  spiritual 
sight?" 

"Undoubtedly  you  can,  and  while  I  must  not  in 
fluence  you  one  way  or  the  other,  since  the  choice 
must  be  of  your  own  free  will,  yet  you  know  how  I 
long  to  meet  you  again  as  a  volunteer  in  the  Great 
Army  in  which  you  are  enlisted  anyhow." 

Jimmie  felt  that  it  was  a  very  serious  moment.  He 
wanted  to  help.  His  heart  flowed  out  in  sympathy 
with  those  who  are  suffering  and  dying  and  yet — 
— yet — that  thing  of  " living  the  life" — could  he  do 
it?  When  he  got  back  to  his  regiment  and  his  com 
pany — could  he  keep  it  up?  Then  a  doubt  crept  into 
his  mind.  Mr.  Campion  had  said,  or  had  as  good  as 
said,  that  in  sleep  almost  every  one  helps,  more  or 
less,  so  why  could  he  not  do  whatever  was  possible 


84  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

during  conscious  hours  and  trust  to  being  an  uncon 
scious  invisible  helper  during  sleep? 

Mr.  Campion  sat,  watching  them.  Louise  was 
looking  at  him  but  not  watching  him.  Her  eyes  had 
that  "far  away"  expression  which  showed  that  her 
mind  was  busy  with  other  things,  as  quickly  be 
came  evident  when  she  spoke. 

"Please  tell  me,  Mr.  Campion,  if  you  will,  just 
why  the  embodied  worker  who  has  the  freedom  of 
the  other  planes  is  so  much  more  valuable  than  the 
disembodied  worker  or  the  worker  who  cannot  con 
sciously  visit  the  higher  worlds — does  it  not  have 
something  to  do  with  the  will  power?" 

"You  have  the  idea,  Miss  Clayton.  The  embodied 
worker  has  a  power  which  the  same  man,  having 
lost  his  body  by  death  does  not  have.  The  explana 
tion  is  a  long  one  but  you  have  come  very  near  the 
mark  when  you  speak  of  will  power.  Also,  the 
worker  on  the  other  side  is  dealing  largely  with  those 
who  have  just  passed  over,  whose  day  in  school  is 
done,  and  whose  period  of  reviewing  the  physical  life 
has  commenced.  The  worker  on  this  side  of  the  veil, 
however,  may  be  able  to  influence  the  lives  of  many, 
causing  them  to  refrain  from  things  which  they  oth 
erwise  would  do  and  to  avoid  much  of  the  pain  of 
purgatory  by  leaving  undone,  actions  which  would 
have  brought  on  them  a  great  debt  of  destiny." 

Jimmie  and  Louise  walked  back  to  the  hospital 
very  quietly.  Each  was  busy  thinking  and  their  oc- 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  85 

casional  intervals  of  conversation  were  to  review 
some  of  the  things  Mr.  Campion  had  said. 

Just  before  they  reached  the  big  gate  Louise  spoke : 

"Jimmie!  I  have  a  confession  to  make." 

"What  is  it?" 

"Do  you  know,  before  we  went  into  that  house  1 
really  did  not  think  that  your  adventure  was  any 
thing  but  imagination.  I  thought  it  was  just  one  of 
those  'shell  shock'  dreams." 

"I  was  afraid  you  did." 

"But  you  needn't  be  afraid  any  longer.  I  believe 
every  word  of  it  now." 

The  very  excusable  pleasure  which  Jimmie  showed 
plainly  in  his  face  and  which  arose  entirely  from 
satisfaction  at  having  his  story  finally  believed  must 
have  caused  the  old  French  porter  at  the  gate  to  draw 
some  highly  erroneous  conclusions — judging  from 
the  smile  with  which  his  wrinkled  old  face  was 
wreathed  as  Jimmie  and  Louise  entered  the  hospital; 
or  else,  it  is  possible,  we  may  have  failed  to  overhear 

the  entire  conversation. 

*     *     * 

Back  once  more  with  his  company  and  after  the 
hearty  greetings  and  congratulations  at  his  escape 
were  over,  Jimmie  settled  down  to  the  steady  grind 
of  drill  and  training  which  took  up  a  considerable 
part  of  the  time,  even  though  they  were  now  in  a 
"rest  billet"  behind  the  lines. 


86  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

The  everyday,  well  known  affairs  of  the  now  fa 
miliar  army  life,  the  constant  contact  with  his  men 
and  his  brother  officers  with  all  of  whom  he  was  & 
prime  favorite,  tended  to  dull  the  keen  edge  of  his 
enthusiasm,  and  prosaic,  comnnonplace  thoughts 
usurped  the  place  of  the  high  ideals  and  noble  aspira 
tions  which  had  so  thrilled  him.  The  glamour  of  his 
trip  into  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead  began  to  pale 
somewhat.  Pressing,  urgent  duties,  insistent,  demand 
ing  duties  claimed  his  time.  When  drill  and  the  var 
ious  forms  of  training  were  over,  he  was  tired  and 
only  too  willing  to  be  swept  along  with  the  crowd  on 
a  visit  to  the  "Y"  or  some  entertainment.  Always  he 
tried  to  quiet  his  conscience  with  the  promise  that  he 
would  do  something  in  earnest  soon,  just  as  soon  as 
he  got  well  rested. 

In  the  meantime,  as  he  had  promised,  he  kept  up 
the  foolishly  simple  little  exercise  that  Mr.  Campion 
had  given  him  and  which  he  went  through  with  every 
night  just  as  regularly  as  clockwork,  though  he  could 
not  see,  to  save  his  life,  how  so  ridiculously  elemen 
tary  a  thing  could  have  any  great  effect  upon  him. 
It  stood  to  reason,  he  thought,  that  Mr.  Campion  was 
wrong,  else  why  should  not  this  exercise  be  widely 
known?  Why  did  not  some  of  the  ministers  of  the 
different  churches  know  about  it  and  teach  it?  He 
knew,  that  some  of  the  criticism  leveled  at  the  heads 
of  ministers  was  deserved,  but  he  knew  that,  taken 
as  a  whole  and  averaging  them  up,  the  ministers 
were  honest  and  conscientious  and  doing  their  best 


THE  ELDER  BROTHER  IN  THE  FLESH  87 

according  to  their  light.     Why,  then,  did  they  not 
know  of  such  a  thing  if  it  were  really  true? 

He  was  seated  one  afternoon,  writing  in  a  corner 
of  the  "Y".  Not  many  men  were  there  but  close  to 
him  an  elderly  and  somewhat  over  zealous  secretary 
was  taking  to  task  a  little  group  of  soldiers  who  were 
evidently  remiss  in  their  attendance  at  the  services. 
These  men  had  been  in  battle.  They  had  seen  their 
comrades  die — wounded — blown  to  atoms — gassed, 
gasping  with  raw  and  bleeding  lungs  for  one  breath 
of  air  they  could  not  seem  to  reach.  These  men  had 
seen  their  friends,  young,  brave,  with  all  of  life  be 
fore  them,  suddenly  die,  and  the  effect  of  such  ex 
periences  had  produced  in  them  a  broader  or  a 
deeper  or  a  higher,  at  any  rate,  a  different,  attitude 
toward  the  great  enigma  of  life. 

The  secretary  had  just  come  over  and  was  full  of 
zeal  to  save  the  souls  of  these  poor,  lost  wander 
ers,  to  snatch  the  brands  from  the  burning.  They 
must  come  and  be  saved.  They  must  put  on  salva 
tion.  They  must  accept  Christ  or  forever  they 
would  burn  in  hell  as  children  of  the  devil. 
They  must  become  converted  and  filled  with 
grace  before  it  was  too  late  and  the  bottomless  pit 
yawned  for  them  with  the  everlasting  fires  and — 

"Oh,  can  that  brimstone  stuff!" 

This  interruption  of  a  new  voice  with  an  evident 
note  of  impatience  in  it  caught  Jimmie's  attention 
and  he  looked  around  at  the  speaker  with  interest. 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION 

THE  tone  of  voice  of  the  last  speaker  attracted 
the   attention   of   our   friend  Jimmie   and    he 
listened  with  interest. 

"What — what — what  do  you  mean?"  stammered 
the  horrified  secretary. 

* '  Just  that.  Can  that  everlasting  fire  stuff.  It  isn  't 
logical  and  it  isn't  scriptural  and  it  isn't  Christian 
and  it  isn't  in  the  Bible  anyway,  and  a  God  who 
would  act  the  way  you  say  He  does  would  be  a  devil 
and  not  a  God." 

It  was  a  tall,  lean  doughboy  who  spoke.  The 
interval  of  silence  caused  by  a  stupefaction  of  the 
horrified  secretary,  who  really  could  not  believe  his 
ears  and  was  dumb  from  amazement,  gave  Jimmie  a 
chance  to  take  a  hurried  glance  at  the  group  before 
the  doughboy  continued: 

"Who  is  God,  anyhow?" 

"Who  is  God!  Who  is  God!  Oh,  my  poor,  poor 
brother!  Can  you  be  so  ignorant  as  to  ask  that 
question  ? ' ' 

"You  bet  I  can!  You  seem  to  know  a  lot  about 
Him,  at  least  you  are  allowing  that  you  do.  Now 

88 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION  89 

tell  me  just  who  He  is  and  what  is  His  business.'' 

''Who  is  He?  Oh,  dear,  dear !  With  a  rod  of  iron 
he  rules  the  world  and  breaks  in  it  pieces  like  a 
potter's  vessel.  He  made  you  and  He  gave  his  only 
Son  to  die  for  you  to  save  you  from  eternal  damna 
tion,  and  you  ask  who  He  is!" 

"Now  listen  to  me,  parson.  I  don't  mean  to  be 
unkind  and  I  don't  mean  to  be  irreverent,  but  I've 
been  through  that  hell  out  yonder  and  I  saw  my 
chum,  the  finest  fellow  that  ever  wore  shoe  leather 
and  the  bravest  man — "  here  he  glared  around  the 
little  circle  as  though  challenging  any  one  to  deny 
the  fact — "the  bravest  man  that  ever  lived.  I  saw 
him  hit  with  a  shell  which  took  both  his  legs  off, 
and  he  died  right  there  in  my  arms  and  he  didn't 
have  a  chance.  I  saw  him  die  and  I've  got  to  go 
back  when  this  thing  is  over,  if  I'm  alive,  and  tell 
his  wife  and  his  mother  how  he  died.  And  you  tell 
me  that  God  made  the  world  and  rules  the  world  and 
He  allows  things  like  this  war  to  happen?  Why 
didn't  He  stop  it?  If  He  is  as  great  and  holy  as 
you  say,  why  didn't  He  stop  the  men  who  began 
this  thing?" 

"My  poor,  poor,  ignorant  brother.  God  did  not 
permit  this  war.  It  was  the  devil,  that  great  Adver 
sary,  who  brought  this  on." 

"Then  God  doesn't  rule  the  world!  He  made  us 
but  He  made  such  a  poor  job  He  had  to  send  His 


90  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

only  Son  to  die  to  save  us,  and  even  at  that  He  only 
saves  a  few — by  your  own  reckoning  the  great  ma* 
jority  are  going  to  hell ;  I  heard  you  say  so  when  you 
spoke  of  the  broad,  easy  way  that  leads  to  destruc 
tion.  " 

11  Oh,  but,  my  brother,  that  is  all  in  the  Bible.  Do 
you  mean  to  deny  the  Word  of  God?" 

"I  don't  know  just  what  I'm  denying,  but  I  don't 
believe  the  Bible  says  that  at  all.  I  believe  you  go 
to  the  Bible  and  get  out  of  it  just  what  you  happen 
to  want  to  get  out  of  it  and  not  what  the  Bible  wants 
to  give  you.  Now  you  listen  to  me  for  a  moment  and 
tell  me  if  I  make  a  mistake.  God  is  almighty.  Is 
that  so?" 

"Yes,  yes,  it  is  indeed  and — " 

"Now  just  wait  a  minute,  parson,  if  you'll  excuse 
me,  it's  my  inning  right  now  and  I  am  after  getting 
at  the  truth  if  I  can.  Now  to  start  over  again — God 
is  almighty — that  means  He  is  able  to  do  anything?" 

"Yes  indeed." 

"And  I  heard  a  minister  say  once  that  He  is  omni 
potent?" 

"Yes." 

"That  means  that  He  is  almighty  but  it  means  a 
lot  more  too." 

"Gee!  You're  a  regular  lawyer!"  was  the  admir 
ing  interjection  from  another  soldier  in  the  group. 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION  91 

"Well,  I  studied  law  a  lot  and  practiced  a  little 
too,  but  I  never  trained  for  this  kind  of  a  fight. " 

"Now,  my  brother,  let  me  give  you  some  tracts  to 
read—  " 

"No  parson,  I  don't  want  to  read  any  tracts.  They 
all  shy  away  from  the  big  questions.  You  began 
this  thing  and  I  want  you  to  stand  up  like  a  man 
and  see  it  through  because  I'm  not  trying  to  damage 
religion  any.  I'm  really  and  honestly  looking  for 
light,  but  I  want  real  light — sunlight — not  any  of 
your  tallow  candle  variety.  I  want  to  get  at  the 
truth.  I've  been  in  hell  out  there  past  the  trenches 
and  I've  walked  face  to  face  with  death  and  so  have 
all  these  boys  here,  and  we  are  looking  for  truth — 
fact — true  truth,  not  any  counterfeit.  Now  I  am 
right  here  to  tell  you,  parson,  that  my  eternal  happi 
ness  is  worth  just  as  much  to  me  as  yours  is  to  you, 
and  I'm  not  trying  to  shock  you — I  want  the  truth — 
so  do  all  these  boys." 

"But,  brother,  I  have  told  you.  Accept  Christ — 
put  on  the  Gospel  armor  and  you  can  resist  all  the 
wiles  of  the  enemy." 

"There  you  go,  parson,  evading  the  issue.  The 
questions  are:  Who  is  God,  why  did  He  make  us, 
why  did  He  allow  this  war  to  come  on?" 

"Oh,  but  you  are  wrong.  He  didn't  allow  it.  It 
is  all  against  his  will — " 

"Against  His  will  and  He  omnipotent?  No,  par 
son,  you've  got  to  try  again." 


92  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"But  I  tell  you,  brother,  you  must  come  humbly 
to  the  throne  of  grace.  Accept  Christ  with  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  and  even  now  you  may  be  saved. ' ' 

The  tall  soldier  looked  at  the  secretary  for  a  mom 
ent,  gave  a  sigh  and  turned  away. 

"It  always  ends  this  way,"  he  said  to  another  of 
the  group;  "  I  never  knew  a  parson  who  could  hold 
up  his  end  in  a  real  discussion  with  any  one  who 
wants  to  know  the  real  truth  if  there  is  such  a 
thing  to  be  known.  They  always  shirk  and  dodge. 
So  long,  parson,"  he  said  pleasantly  as  he  passed  out 
of  the  building. 

Jimmie  hastily  folded  his  letter,  stuck  it  in  his 
pocket,  and  followed.  Here,  perhaps,  was  a  chance 
to  begin  on  the  great  work.  The  Elder  Brother  had 
said  that  the  work  would  not  be  forced  on  him  but 
that  he  would  be  given  chances  to  work  if  he  were  in 
earnest.  Perhaps  this  was  a  chance.  He  overtook 
the  man,  who  quietly  saluted  as  he  fell  into  step 
with  him. 

"I  overheard  part  of  your  talk  with  the  secretary, " 
said  Jimmie,  "and  I  want  to  ask  you,  if  I  may, 
whether  you  were  really  in  earnest  when  you  said 
that  you  wanted  to  know  the  truth?" 

"You  bet  I  was,  Lieutenant,  but  I  never  can  get 
a  minister  to  answer  the  questions  I  want  to  ask,  and 
yet  they  seem  reasonable  to  me." 


A  DOUGHBOY  's  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION  93 

"I  think  I  can  answer  your  questions.  If  you  will 
let  me  take  the  parson's  place,  and  anyhow  I  think 
we  would  enjoy  the  discussion." 

"All  right,  sir." 

The  tone  was  a  resigned  one,  and  Jimmie  sensed 
the  situation.  The  tall  soldier  had  told  the  truth 
when  he  said  that  he  wanted  light  but  was  disgusted 
at  the  idea  that  a  very  youthful  second  lieutenant 
should  take  up  the  scanty  leisure  of  a  tired  soldier 
with  a  lot  of  useless  discussion  on  a  subject  of  which 
he  must  be  completely  ignorant.  He  (the  soldier) 
had  applied  frequently  for  light  to  the  regularly  ap 
pointed  light-bearers  and  had  received — darkness. 
For  this  second  lieutenant  to  presume  to  have  what 
none  of  the  ministers  had  was  like  a  grammar  school 
boy  offering  to  teach  a  major-general  the  rudiments 
of  strategy.  However,  the  tall  soldier  was  good-na 
tured  and  decided  to  put  up  with  the  infliction  for  a 
few  minutes  to  see  what  the  lieutenant  had  to  say. 

Jimmie  said  after  a  little  awkward  silence: 

"You  know,  I  felt  sorry  for  that  poor  secretary 
back  there;  you  put  some  hard  questions  to  him." 

The  tall  soldier  chuckled: 

"They  did  kinda  get  his  goat,  didn't  they?" 

"They  sure  did.  Yet  the  answers  are  very  simple." 

"I  wish  you'd  give  them." 

"Well — ask  your  questions." 

"Is  there  a  life  after  death?" 

"Yes." 


94  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"How  do  you  know?" 

"Because  I've  been  there  and  come  back." 

"Gee!  You  scored  that  time,  maybe.  But  here's 
another:  How  do  you  know  that  you've  been  there 
and  come  back?" 

"I  thought  you  would  ask  that  question.  I  know 
that  I  have  been  over  there  and  come  back  because 
I  have  met  and  talked  with  people  there  whom  I 
knew  in  earth  life,  and  also  because  I  met  and  talked 
with  a  man  there  whom  I  had  never  known  before 
but  who  had  not  laid  aside  his  physical  body,  and  by 
following  his  instructions  I  have  met  him  in  the 
physical  body  afterwards.  Still,  I  fully  recognize  the 
tact  that  what  is  proof  to  me  is  not  proof  to  you, 
because  you  have  only  my  word  for  It ;  and  even  if 
you  knew  me  well  and  did  not  doubt  my  word,  yet 
there  is  a  large  margin  for  error  of  judgment,  so 
that  strictly  speaking  there  can  be  no  'proof  for  you 
except  through  your  own  experience.  But,  there  may 
be  a  secondary  proof,  circumstantial  evidence  as 
you  might  say,  which  would  be  ten  times  more  con 
vincing  'proof  than  anything  I  might  tell  you,  even 
if  you  did  not  doubt  my  word." 

"Just  what  do  you  mean?" 

' '  I  mean  this :  You  have  been  told  from  your  child 
hood  that  there  is  a  God,  that  He  is  wisdom,  knowl 
edge,  love,  etc.  You  see  certain  facts  in  the  world 
around  you  which  you  find  hard  to  reconcile  with 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  EELJGION  95 

such  an  idea  of  God.  You  see  injustice,  misery,  war, 
pain,  sorrow,  parting;  you  see  some  who  are  lucky 
all  their  lives  and  some  who  are  unlucky  through 
no  fault  of  their  own.  You  see  all  these  things  and 
you  naturally  want  to  know  why  they  exist  in  a 
world  which  has  been  created  by  a  Being  whose  name 
is  love.  Since  they  do  exist  and  since  they  are  not 
the  evidences  of  love,  you  argue  that  God  either  does 
not  exist  at  all  or  that  He  is  lacking  in  some  of  the 
attributes  you  have  always  ascribed  to  Him  or  that 
there  is  a  Rival  Power  of  darkness,  almost,  if  not 
quite,  as  powerful  as  God.  Is  that  not  so?" 
" That's  the  case  exactly,  Lieutenant." 
"You  ask  for  the  reasons  why  such  things  are 
allowed  in  the  world  and  you  are  met  with  evasions 
and  platitudes  which  show  you  that  the  men  who 
are  supposed  to  know  most  about  the  things  of  God 
are  really  as  ignorant  as  yourself  but  not  honest 
enough  to  admit  it.  They  believe  certain  things  on 
what  seems  to  you  to  be  insufficient  evidence,  and 
they  wish  you  to  believe  just  what  they  do  but  are 
wholly  unable  to  answer  any  of  your  questions  and 
even  resent  the  asking  of  the  questions.  Yet  the 
whole  matter  becomes  plain  as  day  when  you  realize 
that  we  are  all  evolving  spirits,  parts  of  God  just  as 
the  Bible  says,  who  are  growing  in  experience  and 
knowledge  and  power  through  living  many  lives  on 
earth,  one  after  another.  We  are  subject  to  two  great 


96  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

laws,  first,  that  of  rebirth  which  brings  us  back 
again  and  again  to  life  on  the  physical  plane,  and 
second,  that  of  consequence  which  decrees  that  we 
must  reap  just  what  we  sow —  again  just  as  the 
Bible  tells  us.  In  between  our  earth  lives  we  are  in 
another  state  of  consciousness  in  which  the  exper 
ience  of  the  past  life  is  incorporated  into  our  spirit 
as  conscience.  Sin  is  the  result  of  ignorance  of 
God's  laws,  and  the  resultant  suffering  in  time 
teaches  us  how  to  obey  these  laws,  just  as  a  child  that 
has  burnt  its  finger  learns  to  avoid  a  hot  stove.  But 
some  are  fortunate  because  they  have  progressed 
farther  on  the  path  of  evolution  than  others,  have 
learned  more  lessons,  and  are  able  to  live  more  nearly 
according  to  God's  law.  Others  are  unfortunate  be 
cause  in  past  lives  they  have  done  wrong  and  have 
laid  up  more  of  a  debt;  or  rather  because  they  have 
not  progressed  as  far  upon  the  path  of  evolution 
and  so  have  not  paid  off  as  many  of  their  debts,  for 
no  one  in  all  God's  universe  is  called  upon  to  suffer 
anything  which  he  has  not  deserved  by  his  actions 
in  the  past;  but  you  must  remember  that  the  past 
extends  over  hundreds  of  lives.  In  the  great  scheme 
of  human  evolution  there  are  great  turning  points 
where  extra  help  is  given.  This  war  is  one  of  those 
points  and  was  allowed  to  come  on  because  the  race 
was  becoming  bogged  in  materialism,  and  a  great 
shock  was  needed  to  turn  the  thought  of  humanity 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION  97 

back  to  the  only  real  thing  in  the  world,  which  is 
the  study  of  the  laws  of  God  and  the  attempt  to  obey 
them.  And  the  laws  of  God  were  never  better  sum 
marized  than  by  Christ  when  He  said  to  love  God 
supremely  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  Do  I  make 
myself  plain?" 

"Y-e-s,  but  if  I  have  lived  before,  why  don't  I  re 
member  it?" 

"Well,  the  causes  which  operate  to  prevent  your 
remembering  your  past  lives  are  complex  and  would 
take  a  long  time  to  explain.  But  the  fact  remains 
that  it  is  a  merciful  provision  of  nature,  because  if 
you  did  remember  all  your  past  lives  you  could  not 
advance  at  all,  for  the  old  loves  and  hates  of  the 
past  would  compel  you  to  wrong  actions.  A  boy  in 
school  uses  a  slate  until  he  is  past  the  primary 
grades  and  does  not  make  many  mistakes  in  figures. 
Later  on  he  discards  his  slate  and  uses  pencil  and 
paper,  and  still  later  he  uses  ink.  So  with  us.  When 
we  learn  to  live  right  and  not  make  so  many  mis 
takes,  when  we  are  freer  from  the  passions  of  hatred 
and  revenge,  we  shall  remember  all  our  past  lives." 

"It  seems  to  be  all  right  but  I  can't  see  why  I 
don't  remember  if  I  have  lived  before." 

"Think  it  over  and  maybe  you  will  see." 

Jimmie  judged  it  best  to  drop  the  subject  here  and 
left  the  man  to  go  on  his  way.  He  was  disappointed, 
too,  for  to  his  enthusiasm  the  inability  to  see  so 

7 


98  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

plain  a  matter  was  a  little  disheartening.  He  had 
not  realized  the  fact  that  each  one  has  his  limita- 
tations  and  that  the  limitations  of  one  are  at  a  differ 
ent  distance  from  the  center  than  those  of  another.  A 
large  circle  can  contain  a  smaller  and  can  comprehend 
it  and  the  fact  that  there  is  space  beyond  the  confines 
of  the  smaller  circle,  but  the  smaller  one  cannot 
comprehend  the  large  one  until  it  has  learned  to 
reason  from  the  existence  of  still  smaller  circles  that 
there  may  be  something  beyond  its  own  limitations. 
It  is  easy  for  us  to  see  the  limitations  of  others  but 
hard  to  see  our  own  until  we  learn  first  to  cast  out 
the  beam  which  is  in  our  own  eye  before  we  attempt 
to  remove  the  moat  which  is  in  our  brother's  eye. 

And  now  began  for  Jimmie  a  life  in  which  he 
found  little  time  for  the  particular  work  he  was  so 
anxious  to  do.  His  regiment  was  sent  back  to  the 
trenches  and  the  strenuous  life  and  the  little  real 
privacy  and  quiet  which  he  could  command  hindered 
his  attempts  to  further  his  own  advancement.  He 
did,  however,  manage  to  perform,  most  of  the  time 
the  simple  exercises  which  Mr.  Campion  had  given 
him  and  managed  to  say  a  few1  words  about  the 
higher  life  now  and  then  when  the  chance  offered. 
But  the  excitement  of  the  actual  fighting,  for  his 
regiment  was  brigaded  with  a  British  army  contin 
gent  and  was  holding  back  the  German  advance  in 
the  spring  of  1918,  focused  his  attention  almost 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION  99 

wholly  upon  military  affairs.  The  matter,  though, 
was  in  stronger  hands  than  his,  and  one  day,  in  a 
charge  to  retake  a  trench,  he  received  a  bullet  in  his 
right  arm  and  was  sent  back  to  a  hospital,  fuming 
at  his  ill  luck. 

In  this  hospital  there  was  no  Louise,  and  he  had 
been  there  hardly  long  enough  to  get  his  wound  well 
dressed  before  he  received  orders  to  sail  at  once  for 
America  for  instruction  duty  in  one  of  the  big  train 
ing  camps.  He  tried  in  vain  for  long  enough  leave 
to  hunt  up  Miss  Clayton,  but  the  situation  was  ur 
gent  and  his  orders  were  peremptory.  He  wrote  a 
despairing  letter  to  Mr.  Campion  but  received  no  re 
ply  and  was  forced  to  board  a  returning  transport, 
in  charge  of  a  small  contingent  of  wounded  men,  his 
great  work  undone,  Louise  and  Mr.  Campion  left  be 
hind  in  France,  his  comrades  still  fighting  tooth  and 
nail  to  hold  the  grey  flood,  and  himself  in  what  he 
bitterly  asserted  to  be  perfect  physical  condition, 
forced  to  go  home  before  the  war  was  won. 

Oh,  the  bitterness  of  that  embarkation,  leaving  be 
hind  him  in  France  the  Great  War  in  which  he  wished 
to  continue,  the  girl  whom  he  had  grown  to  love  and 
the  man  to  whom  he  looked  for  guidance  in  the  great 
work  which  he  had  dimly  sensed!  Leaving  behind 
all  the  great  activities  which  had  entered  his  life  and 
had  changed  it  so  completely,  leaving  it  all  for 
what?  A  safety  which  he  despised,  a  work  which  he 


100  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

felt  others  could  do  far  better  than  he,  a  life  of  un 
welcome  ease  and  that  dreadful,  gnawing  sense  of 
separation  from]  those  whom  he  wished  to  be  near. 

Jimmie  went  aboard  the  transport,  weighed  down 
with  a  feeling  of  injustice  and  calamity.  His  arm 
gave  him  considerable  trouble  for  it  was  encased  in 
a  sling  most  of  the  time,  and  yet  he  knew  that  at  the 
front  he  would  have  hardly  noticed  such  pain  as  it 
caused.  But  now  little  things  annoyed  him  and 
trifles  seemed  important,  and  he  grew,  not  peevish, 
for  Jimmie  had  naturally  too  sunny  a  disposition 
for  that,  but  less  buoyantly  joyful  than  he  had  gen 
erally  been.  He  spent  as  little  time  out  of  his  cabin 
as  possible  and  was  generally  supposed  to  be  suffer 
ing  more  from  the  shell  shock  than  from  the  wound 
in  his  arm.  As  shell  shock  is  a  most  peculiar  thing 
and  acts  in  a  thousand  different  ways,  his  little 
foibles  were  passed  over  without  remark  and  he  was 
humored  in  them  to  the  greatest  possible  extent. 

The  ship  had  been  two  nights  and  two  days  at  sea 
and  it  was  late  in  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  long 
after  dark,  that  he  stood  at  the  rail  alone  looking 
wistfully  out  over  the  water.  The  moon  was  rising, 
a  brand  new  moon,  giving  too  little  light  to  dim  the 
beauty  of  the  friendly  stars.  The  breeze  was  blow 
ing  gently  from  the  southward  and  the  great  ship 
drove  through  the  darkness  without  even  the  glim 
mer  of  a  light  to  mark  her  way,  heaving  slowly  and 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION          101 

gently  to  the  long,  easy  swells  and  rolling  with 
something  of  dignity  in  her  motion  as  though  in  a 
dim  way  she  sensed  her  separate  existence  and  the 
value  of  the  precious  human  freight  she  bore. 

Jimmie  leaned  against  the  rail  drinking  deep 
breaths  of  the  salty  air  which  tasted  so  clean  and 
fresh  after  the  reek  of  No-Man 's-Land,  fouled,  with 
human  hatred  and  the  wrecks  of  human  war,  and 
watched  each  long,  low  roller  brimming  slowly  to 
the  vessel's  side  and  raising  her  so  easily,  so  quietly, 
as  though  the  lifting  of  a  score  of  thousand  tons 
of  weight  were  the  merest  play.  The  exhibition  of 
such  tremendous  power  slowly  brought  into  Jimmie 's 
mind,  torn  with  grief  and  disappointment,  a  feeling 
of  calmness  and  rest,  and  when  he  looked  from  the 
ocean  to  the  sky  and  watched  the  great  stars  shining 
quietly  above  him  as  they  had  shone  above  Columbus 
and  the  sailors  of  the  Spanish  Main,  as  they  had 
shone  above  Rome  and  Carthage,  above  Babylon  and 
Baalbec,  above  the  builders  of  the  pyramids  and 
the  armies  and  the  navies  of  old  Atlantis,  he  felt 
stealing  over  him  a  faint  perception  of  that  great 
Power  whose  Being  they  attested  and  whose  majestic 
purpose  could  not  be  thwarted  a  hair's  breadth  even 
by  the  great  upheaval  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  globe. 

His  mind  ran  back  over  history  and  he  pictured 
to  himself  the  wars  and  plagues  and  pestilences  and 
famines,  the  myriad  scenes  of  battle  and  murder  and 


102  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

sudden  death,of  quiet  lives  of  unknown  peoples,  of 
the  loves  and  the  hates  of  mjen  and  women  dead  a 
thousand  or  ten  thousand  years  ago,  upon  all  of 
whom  these  same  stars  had  gazed  with  the  same 
quiet  calm,  waiting  unperturbed  the  working  out  of 
God's  great  Plan. 

It  seemed  to  him  as  the  pictures  of  these  things 
flashed  through  his  mind,  as  though  the  world  swung 
on  its  way  through  space  leaving  swirling  behind  it 
like  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke  visible  to  spiritual  eyes, 
the  prayers  and  tears  of  all  humanity,  the  screams  of 
the  wounded  and  the  dying  upon  all  the  battlefields 
since  human  history  began,  the  appeals  for  mercy, 
the  agony  of  despair,  the  strife  of  nations,  the  rise 
of  races  and  their  fall,  the  cry  of  the  starving — all 
united  in  this  dense  black  cloud  which  must  roll  up 
ward  to  the  very  Throne  of  God.  And  through  it 
all  there  sounded  that  same  despairing  appeal — 
Why! 

And  then  he  thought  of  his  own  little  part  in  the 
mightly  Drama,  how  he  had  been  protected  and 
shown  a  little  of  the  great  Plot,  how  a  corner  of  the 
dark  Curtain  had  been  lifted  for  a  moment  so  that 
he  might  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  which  lay  beyond 
in  order  that  he  might  know  how  to  help. 

How  had  he  fulfilled  his  mission?  What  had  he 
done?  In  his  talk  with  the  soldier  who  had  asked 
such  pointed  questions  at  the  "Y"  hut,  what  had 
he  accomplished?  Nothing! 


A  DOUGHBOY'S  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION          103 

His  conscience  troubled  him,  yet,  after  all,  what 
could  he  have  done  by  argument!  This  question, 
as  he  began  to  feel,  was  one  too  great  to  be  solved 
by  any  burst  of  enthusiasm,  however  ardent.  It 
must  be  the  quiet,  steady  work  of  time,  unremitting, 
unrelenting,  seeking  every  opportunity,  undaunted 
by  failure,  and  satisfied  if,  here  and  there,  one  per 
son  could  be  helped  though  ever  so  slightly.  Then, 
perhaps,  after  the  war  he  might  return  to  Paris  and 
meet  again  that  wise  man,  Mr.  Campion,  the  "Elder 
Brother,"  and  learn  how  to  fit  himself  for  the  great 
work. 

And  as  his  thought  steadied  itself  into  that  firm 
resolve  to  "carry  on,"  no  matter  how  hopeless  the 
task  might  seem,  the  calm  of  the  great  stars  filled 
his  heart  and  he  turned  away  to  seek  his  cabin  and 
perhaps  write  a  few  more  words  in  a  letter  to  Louise 
which  he  intended  to  mail  to  her  as  soon  as  he  got 
ashore. 

As  he  carefully  closed  his  cabin  door  before  turn 
ing  on  the  light  which  he  as  an  officer  was  allowed 
and  which  was  so  thoroughly  screened  that  no 
glimmer  could  possibly  escape  to  be  seen  by  lurking 
submarines,  his  mind  was  filled  with  the  magic  of 
the  stars,  of  the  sea,  and  keyed  with  the  resolve  to 
prove  himself  worthy,  in  time,  of  the  confidence 
which  had  been  placed  in  him ;  to  show  Mr.  Campion, 
if  he  could  ever  find  that  gentleman  again,  that  he 
was  not  an  utterly  unworthy  pupil. 


104  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

But  he  was  not  prepared  for  the  shock  which  met 
him  as  he  turned  away  from  the  door.  Sitting 
quietly  in  the  one  chair  which  the  cabin  boasted,  as 
though  his  presence  were  the  most  natural  thing  in 
the  world,  was  the  very  man  about  whom  Jimmie 
had  just  been  thinking — Mr.  Campion. 

Jimmie  started  with  surprise,  gasped  out, 
"Wh-wh-why!"  and  held  out  his  hand  to  his  un 
expected  visitor.  Beyond  that  monosyllabic  utter 
ance  he  could  not  seem  to  think  of  another  word  to 
say  for  an  instant,  so  completely  was  he  taken  aback. 
But  Mr.  Campion  did  not  offer  to  shake  hands, 
merely  motioning  Jimmie,  with  a  smile,  to  sit  on  the 
edge  of  the  berth. 

"I  am  not  here  in  my  physical  body,  so  I  can't 
shake  hands  with  you,  but  I  am  delighted  that  you 
are  able  to  see  so  plainly.  I  have  come  to  take  you 
on  a  little  excursion,  if  you  are  not  afraid  to  ven 
ture,  and  as  our  time  is  short  if  you  will  lie  down 
in  the  berth  and  fall  asleep  we  will  start  on  our 
travels. ' ' 

Jimmie  might  have  asked  a  few  questions  or  have 
expressed  some  misgivings  if  Mr.  Campion  had  not 
used  that  expression  "If  you  are  not  afraid,"  but 
after  that  challenge  he  felt  that  it  would  not  do  for 
an  officer  in  the  American  army  to  hold  back.  So 
he  quietly  turned  off  the  light,  disposed  himself 
comfortably  in  the  berth,  and  in  what  seemed  to 


A  DOUGHBOY  's  IDEAS  ON  RELIGION          105 

him  almost  no  time  at  all  found  himself  standing  on 
the  floor,  looking  down  upon  his  recumbent  body, 
the  whole  cabin  as  plainly  visible  as  though  filled 
with  daylight,  and  Mr.  Campion,  no  longer  avoiding 
physical  contact,  standing  at  his  side  with  one  hand 
on  Jimmie's  shoulder. 

"This  is  your  first  conscious  leaving  of  the  body, 
and  you  must  not  fear  that  we  shall  not  find  the  ship 
again  or  that  anything  will  happen  to  her  while  you 
are  away.  Take  my  hand  and  trust  me  implicitly, 
and  whatever  you  may  see  do  not  give  way  to  fear. 
Come." 

They  soared  away  right  through  the  fabric  of  the 
ship,  hovering  for  a  moment  above  her  masts,  look 
ing  down  at  her,  for  she  was  a  beautiful  sight  as  she 
plunged  ahead  through  the  smooth,  rolling  swell, 
plainly  visible  to  their  etheric  vision. 

Despite  the  assurances  Mr.  Campion  had  given 
him,  Jimmie  was  afraid.  There  was  his  body,  lying 
down  below  in  its  bunk,  safe  enough  perhaps,  but 
going  one  way  while  he  was  going  another.  The 
weather  was  calm  but  it  was  not  weather  which 
caused  the  ship  to  sail  at  her  full  speed  without  a 
light.  Suppose  a  sub — he  checked  himself .  Often 
had  Jimmie  gone  over  the  top  and  never  had  he 
done  so  without  fear,  but  no  one  who  watched  him 
would  ever  have  known  that  Lieutenant  Westman 
was  afraid.  Jimmie  had  the  true  courage  to  do  his 


106  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

duty  whether  or  not  he  was  afraid,  to  act  just  as 
though  he  did  not  know  what  fear  was,  and  he  had 
heard  too  many  brave  men  admit  constant  fear  to  be 
ashamed  of  being  afraid.  But  he  would  have  been 
ashamed  to  show  that  he  was  afraid  and  never  had 
he  done  so.  He  resolved  that  this  experience  should 
never  drag  from  him  any  expression  of  the  fear  he 
really  felt,  so  he  turned  away  from  the  ship  and 
looked  his  guide  full  in  the  face  with  a  smile  of 
readiness  for  anything  that  might  come. 


CHAPTER  VII 

HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  TO  COMFORT 
His  MOTHER 

MR.  Campion  turned  to  him  smiling: 
"You  have  not  forgotten  the  'glide'  I  see,   so 
well  start  on  our  trip." 

They  began  at  once  to  move  with  tremendous 
rapidity,  Jimmie  holding  Mr.  Campion's  hand  and 
noticing  as  they  sped  along  that  he  seemed  to  see 
many  more  people  traveling  like  themselves  through 
the  air  than  he  had  observed  on  his  former  visit  to 
the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead.  They  were  moving 
in  all  directions,  some  quickly,  some  slowly,  some 
merely  drifting  and  apparently  asleep.  His  own 
gait  was  so  rapid  that  he  merely!  made  a  mental 
note  of  the  fact  and  hoped  to  ask  Mr.  Campion  about 
it  later. 

In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  about  it  they 
found  themselves  on  the  fighting  line  in  France,  and 
they  stopped  in  front  of  a  little  dugout  within  which 
several  men  were  talking.  Jimmie  recognized  one  as 
the  tall  soldier  whom  he  had  met  in  the  "Y"  hut. 
It  developed  from  their  talk  that  they  expected  to 
take  part  in  a  drive  which  they  were  sure  would  be 

107 


108  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

made  within  a  day  or  two,  and  were  discussing  the 
conditions  of  the  after-death  state,  if  there  were 
such  a  thing.  But  they  were  going  about  it  in  a  most 
peculiar  way —  it  seemed  as  though  they  were  try 
ing  to  hide  under  a  camouflage  of  flippancy  their 
genuine  hunger  for  information. 

One  said: 

"I  don't  believe  death  ends  it  all,  but  it  don't 
seen  to  me  like  we've  been  given  the  right  dope 
about  it.  I  remember  an  old  hymn  I  heard  at  a  re 
vival  once.  I  forget  just  how  it  went,  but  it  was 
something  like  this: 

'One  moment  here  my  soul  shall  be, 
The  next,  beyond  the  stars.' 
That's  sure  going  some,  aint  it?" 

"St.  Peter  wouldn't  have  no  chance  to  fire  any 
questions  at  a  guy  going  such  a  pace  as  that!" 

"Also  the  guy  would  be  goin'  so  fast  he'd  just 
naturally  pass  right  through  heaven  an'  out  the 
other  side  before  he  could  stop." 

"He'd  be  out  of  luck,  wouldn't  he?  But  I  don't 
believe  the  man  who  wrote  that  song  knew  anything 
about  it.  I  don't  believe  people  change  like  that 
when  they  die.  Look  at  Slim  Johnson.  That  guy 
is  so  slow  he  just  naturally  can 't  keep  out  of  his  own 
way  an'  do  you  think  he'd  change  to  a  skyrocket 
like  that  if  he  was  killed?  No  sir!  He'd  never  show 
no  speed  like  that.  It'd  take  him  a  week  to  find  it 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  109 

out.  I  bet  when  a  man's  killed  he  just  hangs 
xound  a  spell  an'  then  moseys  along." 

"Where  to?" 

"I  dunno.  Wherever  he  had  any  business,  likely. 
Some  might  like  to  go  to  heaven  an'  play  on  a  harp 
an'  then  some  might  not.  For  me,  I  never  played 
on  a  harp  an'  I  can't  sing  so  I'd  just  like  to  sorter 
hang  around  an'  see  how  things  was  goinM" 

"Maybe  you  couldn't.  Supposin'  you  found  you 
had  an  engagement  some  place  an'  a  big  fellow  be 
hind  you  with  a  pitchfork  urgin'  you  to  keep  it?" 

" Nothin ' doin. '  I  don't  believe  in  such  things  as 
that.  I  don't  believe  in  any  devil  at  all.  I've  heard 
some  of  these  Englishmen  tell  of  things  they  seen 
out  at  night  when  the  war  first  started  an'  they 
were  different  from  that." 

The  inquisitive  soldier  with  whom  Jimmie  had 
talked  broke  inj  here: 

"I  believe  a  lieutenant  I  got  talking  to  a  few 
weeks  ago  had  the  right  dope.  He  said  we  had 
lived  before  and  we  would  live  again  and  that  we 
kept  on  being  the  same  kind  of  men  after  we  were 
killed  as  we  were  before.  It  seemed  foolish  to  me 
then,  but  the  more  I  think  of  it  the  more  I  believe 
he  was  right." 

Here  Mr.  Campion  drew  Jimmie  away. 

"We  have  so  little  time,"  he  said,  "that  we  must 
make  the  most  of  it.  You  see  that  the  seed  you 


110  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

planted  and  which  you  thought  was  wasted  has  really 
sprouted  and  has  started  the  man  to  thinking.  Later, 
if  he  should  come  in  touch  with  the  occult  teaching, 
it  will  not  be  a  novelty  to  him  and  he  will  be  ready 
to  consider  it.1' 

They  had  been  moving  rapidly  while  he  spoke, 
and  he  had  hardly  finished  before  they  stood  in  a 
room  where  an  elderly  couple,  evidently  man  and 
wife,  were  sitting.  The  hour  was  past  midnight, 
but  for  these  two  there  was  no  sleep.  An  official 
envelope  on  the  table  would  have  told  the  story  had 
it  been  needed,  but  it  was  not.  The  woman  was 
crying  audibly,  the  man  silently,  though  the  tears 
were  rolling  down  his  cheeks.  Standing  at  one  side 
was  a  soldier  in  a  torn  and  muddy  uniform,  with 
a  row  of  bullet  holes  across  his  chest  where  a  ma 
chine  gun  had  evidently  done  its  work.  He  winced 
and  cringed  when  the  woman  cried,  stretched  out 
his  arms  to  her  and  called  her  "mother,"  but  she 
did  not  hear. 

Mr.  Campion  approached  the  soldier: 

"Friend,"  he  said,  and  Jimmie  thought  that 
never  had  he  heard  so  kindly  a  voice. 

The  soldier  turned  to  him. 

"I  can't  make  her  hear.  I  can't  make  her  hear. 
If  she  only  knew  that  I  am  alive  and  not — not — suf 
fering!  She  thinks  I'm  dead!  but  I'm  not.  I'm 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  111 

just  as  much  alive  as  I  ever  was,  but  I  can't  make 
her  hear!" 

"Friend!" 

Again  that  gentle  voice  seemed  to  change  the 
tense  vibrations  in  the  room — 

"You  are  not  dead,  indeed,  but  you  have  laid 
aside  your  body  of  flesh  and  I  can  help  you.  Listen 
to  me  and  do  exactly  as  I  say: 

"Think  of  yourself  in  a  clean,  new  uniform,  with 
out  a  wound  and  happy,  and  try  to  impress  that 
thought  upon  your  mother's  mind." 

Slowly,  as  Jimmie  looked,  the  torn,  dirty  uniform, 
became  clean  and  fresh,  the  bullet  wounds  disap 
peared,  the  man's  face  lost  the  lines  of  pain  which 
had  been  seared  upon  it.  He  looked  down  at  him 
self  and  gave  a  gasp  of  surprise. 

"Now,"  said  Mr.  Campion,  "always  think  of 
yourself  as  clean  and  fresh  and  happy  and  keep  on 
saying  to  her  'I  love  you,  I  love  you!'  and  after  a 
while  when  she  goes  to  sleep  you  will  be  able  to  talk 
to  her  for  at  that  time  she  will  leave  her  body  for 
a  while.  Then  try  to  make  her  realize  that  you  are 
alive  and  well  and  that  you  love  her.  Love  is  the 
greatest  force  in  all  the  world  and  in  time  you  will 
soothe  her  pain;  at  night  when  she  sleeps  you  can 
be  with  her  and  talk  to  her." 

The  soldier  gave  him  a  look  only,  but  in  that  look 
were  manifest  a  gratitude  and  respect  which  no 


112  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

words  could  have  expressed.     He    began    to  follow 
the  directions. 

Jimmie  and  Mr.  Campion  withdrew  to  a  corner 
while  the  soldier,  forcing  a  smile  to  his  lips,  kept 
repeating  the  formula,  bending  over  the  woman  as 
she  sat  sobbing. 

Gradually  the  sobs  died  away  and  a  look  of  peace 
crept  over  her  face.  "Henry,"  she  said  to  her  hus 
band,  "it  is  all  right  with  hirn^  I  feel  it.  He  is  alive 
and  well." 

Again  Mr.  Campion  took  Jimmie  by  the  hand  and 
they  began  to  travel.     This  time  it  was  back  to  the 
ship,  and  Jimmie  soon  found  himself  poised  directly 
above  the  vessel  on  board  of  which  in  a  little  cabin 
his  own  body  lay  sleeping  quietly. 

The  moon  had  gone  down  and  to  the  physical  eye 
the  face  of  the  ocean  would  have  been  dark,  but 
those  who  travel  in  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead 
need  no  sun  by  day  nor  are  they  oppressed  by  dark 
ness  at  night. 

Natural  laws  run  through  all  the  cosmos  which  is 
but  another  way  of  saying  that  God  rules  every 
where.  But  the  operation  of  certain  natural  laws 
differs  in  the  different  worlds,  and  those  who  find 
themselves  suddenly  projected  into  the  higher  realms 
of  being  are  often  apt  to  be  much  surprised  at  the 
things  they  see  and  hear. 

Jimmie  gazed  at  the  beautiful  sight  which  lay 
spread  out  below  him  where  the  great  steamer  was 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  113 

plunging  onwards  through  the  gently  rolling 
ocean,  all  around  her  the  interminable  stretch  of 
waters,  ever  restless,  which  ran  brimming  from 
horizon  to  horizon  with  no  human  eye  to  watch  the 
slow  dignity  of  their  great  rollers  as  they  heaved 
themselves  like  mighty  giants  over  the  beautiful, 
foamy  lacework  where  the  combers  broke. 

"Jimmie"  said  his  companion  as  they  hovered 
in  the  air,  "some  day  perhaps  I  shall  take  you  on  a 
real  journey  through  space  and  time,  and  I  will 
show  you  old  Atlantis  and  the  things  which  hap 
pened  there  long  before  history  had  its  beginning. 
We  read  tales  of  romance  and  of  fiction,  but  I  tell 
you  that  neither  romance  nor  fiction  ever  could  rival 
some  of  the  wonderful  things  which  happened  in 
that  strange  old  land  which  these  very  waves  have 
traveled  over.  Now,  let  us  go  to  your  cabin." 

They  swept  gently  downward  and  entered  the  cabin 
where  Jimmie  stood  looking  down  at  his  body  which 
was  quietly  breathing  in  sleep. 

"Queer  thing,  isn't  it?" 

"What?  asked  Mr,  Campion. 

"Why,  its  queer  what  makes  it  go!  There  it  is, 
breathing  just  as  regularly  as  clockwork,  and  here  I 
am,  outside  of  it  and  disconnected,  as  you  might 
say,  and  yet  it's  working  just  as  nicely  as  ever." 

"The  sight  of  it  this  way  m!ay  help  you  to  realize 
that  the  body  is  only  a  tool  to  be  used  by  the  'you' 

8 


114  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

which  is  now  standing  before  it.  Later  on  you  may 
grow  to  realize  that  the  'you'  now  standing  here  is 
only  the  tool  of  a  still  higher  'you/  ' 

"I  wonder,"  said  Jimmie  musingly,  "would  I 
have  known  of  it  if  the  ship  had  been  torpedoed  and 
my  body  drowned  while  I  was  away  from  it?" 

"You  certainly  would  have  known,  had  it  hap 
pened,  but  it  was  because  I  knew  that  it  would  not 
happen  that  I  came  for  you.  Later  I  shall  teach  you 
to  leave  your  body  when  you  will." 

"Didn't  I  leave  my  body  tonight?" 

"No.  Not  as  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  leaving  the 
body.  Everyone  leaves  the  body  in  sleep.  You  left 
yours  after  falling  asleep  and  then  I  woke  you,  but 
you  did  not  leave  your  body  consciously.  Had  you 
done  so  you  would  have  met  the  Dweller  on  the 
Threshhold." 

"What  is  that?" 

"The  sum  of  your  past  lives.  But  there  is  some 
thing  else  I  want  to  speak  of  now  instead  of  the 
Dweller,  and  that  is  this:  What  did  you  notice 
particularly  about  the  soldier  who  was  trying  to  make 
his  mother  hear  him?" 

"Why, — er — I  don't  know.  Let  us  see,  he  had 
been  killed  by  a  machine  gun,  was  that  it?" 

"No.  I  mean  what  lesson  could  you  draw  from 
him?  Every  time  you  are  taken  out  on  a  trip  into 
the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead  it  is  not  to  gratify  your 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  115 

love  for  adventure  but  to  teach  you  a  lesson.  Every 
time  in  the  future  when  you  are  able  to  'travel' 
alone  you  must  be  on  the  lookout  for  some  lesson  to 
learn.  I  showed  you  the  inquisitive  soldier  for  a 
purpose,  and  I  took  you  to  the  other  place  also  for 
a  purpose. 

"After  this  you  will  have  to  search  out  the  lessons 
for  yourself,  for  a  great  part  of  the  good  they  do  is 
brought  about  by  the  trouble  which  is  taken  and  the 
thought  and  concentration  spent  in  looking  for 
them.  But  this  time,  to  show  you  what  I  mean  and 
to  start  you  right,  I  will  help  you. 

"You  must  learn  to  look  for  the  big  little  things, 
not  for  the  little  big  things.  You  took  a  wonderful 
journey  such  as  kings  might  envy  you,  such  as  you 
used  to  read  of  in  fairy  stories  or  in  the  Arabian 
Nights,  a  most  spectacular  thing  had  there  been  any 
one  to  watch  it,  but  that  journey  was  of  no  import 
ance  compared  with  a  number  of  little  things  which 
apparently  you  did  not  notice. 

"The  things  which  you  must  look  for  are 
those  which  emphasize  great  truths;  things  which 
are  true  for  everybody,  for  all  people.  The 
journey  was  great,  in  its  way,  but  it  was  great 
for  you  alone.  If  you  went  out  into  the  world  and 
spent  your  time  telling  people  about  that  wonderful 
journey  they  would  not  believe  you,  but  even  should 
they  believe  you,  what  would  you  accomplish?  From 


116  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

the  standpoint  of  the  evolving  spirit  you  would  ac 
complish  nothing. 

"But  take  one  of  the  little  things  which  you  no 
ticed  but  which  did  not  impress  you  for  you  were 
not  on  the  watch  for  such  things,  the  little  fact  that 
the  soldier  shrank  when  his  mother  cried — take  that 
fact  and  ask  yourself:  Why?  Why  did  he  act  as 
though  some  one  had  struck  him  with  a  whip?  Was 
it  not  perfectly  natural  that  she  should  cry?  Had 
she  laughed  and  smiled  would  he  not  have  had  a  per 
fect  right  to  have  felt  badly,  to  have  felt  as  though 
she  was  glad  to  get  rid  of  him?  Well,  the  key  lies  in 
this:  He  knew,  on  account  of  being  more  sensitive 
to  her  thought  than  when  he  was  in  the  physical 
body,  that  she  had  a  subconscious  fear  that  death  is 
the  end  of  all  and  that  once  dead  he  was  lost  to  her 
forever.  That  was  what  caused  him  such  pain.  That 
was  why  he  shrank  and  quivered  so.  He  was  alive 
and  he  knew  he  was  alive.  He  was  on  another  plane 
of  being,  true,  but  he  was  alive  and  not  dead.  Had 
he  been  able  to  tell  her  so,  to  show  himself  to  her  for 
just  one  moment  as  living,  she  would  have  lost  the 
keeness  of  her  grief,  death  would  have  been  robbed 
of  half  its  sting,  no,  more  than  half,  nine  tenths. 
There  is  your  lesson,  what  do  you  learn  from  it?" 

Jimmie  hesitated,  watching  his  body  sleeping  in 
the  bunk.  He  was  not  just  sure  what  the  lesson 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  117 

was.     The  Elder  Brother  did    not    give  him  long, 
however,  for  he  began  again. 

"To  find  out  what  the  lesson  was  is  easy  if  you 
will  go  about  it  methodically.  Take  from  the  situa 
tion  the  permanent,  universal  truths.  You  have  a 
son  who  has  been  killed,  a  mother  who  knows  that 
he  has  been  killed;  you  have  the  mother  showing  a 
perfectly  natural  grief;  you  have,  (since  you  were 
able  to  see  on  both  sides  of  the  veil)  the  natural 
grief  of  the  mother  causing  the  son  (unseen  by  her) 
the  most  acute  sorrow.  These  things  are  universal 
as  death  is  universal,  for  in  the  problem  which  we 
are  considering,  the  manner  of  the  son's  death  is  of 
no  moment.  We  have,  then,  the  fact  that  deep  and 
hopeless  grief  causes  the  dead  to  suffer.  We  have 
also  the  fact  that  lamentations  for  the  dead  cause 
them  pain  and  take  their  attention  away  from  the 
new  conditions  surrounding  them,  and  hence  hold 
them  back  in  their  evolution.  Also,  since  the  pe 
culiar  intensity  of  these  lamentations  is  caused  by 
the  belief  or  fear  of  the  living  that  death  is  the  end 
of  everything,  you  have  an  utterly  needless  suffer 
ing,  arising  from  ignorance,  which  is  harming  both 
the  dead  and  the  living.  Is  the  case  growing  more 
clear?" 

"Yes,  in  a  way.  I  can  see  where  grief  disturbs 
the  dead  and  how  the  living  suffer  much  more  than 


118  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

they  need  to  suffer  and  all  through  ignorance.  Is 
that  the  lesson?" 

''Partly,  but  only  partly.  On  the  other  side  the 
suffering  is  much  keener  than  on  this  side  because 
it  is  not  deadened  by  the  flesh,  so  the  dead  man  suf 
fers  far  more  than  is  necessary.  Also  the  ones  left 
behind  suffer  a  great  and  needless  amount  of  pain 
because  they  do  not  know  that  death  is  not  the  end. 
But  there  is  a  positive  side.  Not  only  do  they  suffer 
needlessly  but  they  miss  a  great  deal  of  joy  which 
they  might  have,  did  they  know  the  real  facts  of  the 
matter.  The  mother  who  mourns  her  little  child, 
could  she  see  the  child  in  the  surpassing  bliss  of  the 
heaven  world,  might  still  grieve,  but  her  grief  would 
be  for  herself,  not  for  the  child.  Death  is,  in  many 
cases,  a  promotion,  not  a  loss;  a  benefit,  a  reward,  a 
thing  for  which  to  be  thankful.  We  need  to  get  rid 
of  that  old  idea  which  still  clings  so  closely  that 
death  means  permanent  cessation  of  physical  ac 
tivity. 

"But  there  is  a  further  consideration.  In  the  aver 
age  death,  not  the  result  of  sudden  accident  or  of 
battle,  the  soul  reviews  the  events  of  the  past  life, 
and  it  is  this  review  which  forms  the  real  basis  of 
our  progress  in  evolution.  I  explained  it  to  you  be 
fore  when  I  gave  you  that  long  talk  in  the  Rue  de 
TEx.  You  remember  that  the  subconscious  memory, 
which  is  a  property  of  the  vital  body,  is  impressed 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  119 

on  the  desire  body  at  death  while  the  soul  is  review 
ing  the  past  life.  That  impression  forms  the  basis 
for  the  life  in  purgatory  and  also  in  heaven.  When 
the  attention  of  the  passing  soul  is  distracted  as 
by  the  lamentations  of  those  who  are  left  behind, 
the  record  is  not  impressed  on  the  desire  body, 
hence  the  purgatory  life  and  the  heaven  life  both 
fail  in  their  real  purpose  to  a  large  extent,  and  just 
to  that  extent  the  past  life  of  the  man  is  wasted. 
You  have  seen  how  the  dead  are  hurt  by  the  grief  of 
the  living;  not  the  calm  sorrow  of  absence  but  the 
emotional  outburst  of  despair.  This  is  one  lesson 
blocked  out  for  you.  In  the  future,  wherever  your 
life  of  service  takes  you,  do  all  in  your  power  to  ex 
plain  these  facts  to  people  so  that  in  time  this  ter 
rible  injustice  to  the  dead  will  cease.  In  just  so 
far  as  you  can  do  this,  will  you  help  evolution  and 
bring  nearer  the  great  Day  of  Liberation." 

"What  was  the  other  lesson  of  which  you  spoke?" 

"I  have  shown  you  one;  the  other  I  think  you 
would  remember  better  if  you  find  it  out  for  your 
self." 

"But  I  don't  understand  how  the  subconscious 
memory  is  impressed.  You  say  that  it  forms  the 
basis  for  the  life  in  purgatory,  and  that  according 
to  the  keenness  of  the  life  in  purgatory  so  is  the 
completeness  of  our  conquest  over  our  sins?" 

"That  is  it,  exactly." 


120  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"And  yet,  in  the  deaths  that  I  have  watched  from 
this  side  of  the  line  there  has  been  no  review  of  the 
past  life.  Take  Sergeant  Strew,  for  instance.  When 
he  was  killed  he  simply  stepped  out  of  his  body  and 
there  he  was.  There  was  no  lamentation,  but  he 
never  stopped  to  think  of  his  past  life.  Now  why 
was  that?" 

"Because  it  was  a  departure  from  the  normal  way 
of  dying.  Nature  intends  to  use  a  method  consist 
ing  of  death,  then  a  review  of  past  activities  and 
mistakes  and  a  purgatory  and  heaven  life  based  on 
that  review.  That  is  the  scheme  of  evolution,  nor 
mally,  but  man  with  his  divine  prerogative  of  free 
will  and  choice  often  upsets  Nature's  plans,  tem 
porarily,  of  course.  Normally  man  is  not  intended 
to  die  by  violence  or  accident.  Death  on  the  battle 
field  or  death  in  some  accident  which  suddenly  re 
moves  the  Ego  from  a  young  and  vigorous  body  is 
not  the  normal  method  planned  for  the  race.  It 
interferes  with  the  review.  Death  by  burning,  such 
as  sometimes  happens  to  people  in  a  house  or  a  rail 
road  wreck,  may  so  terrify  and  excite  the  soul  that 
for  a  long  time  after  the  actual  severance  of  the  sil 
ver  cord  and  long  after  the  review  has  become  im 
possible,  the  soul  is  still  frantically  re-enacting  the 
scene  of  its  violent  separation  from  the  physical 
body. 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  121 

"In  the  event  of  those  who  die  from  shell  shock 
the  review  is  usually  impossible.  In  the  case  of  Ser 
geant  Strew,  he  was  removed  from  his  body  in 
stantly  and  was  not  aware  of  the  fact,  but  even  had 
he  been  aware  of  it,  the  violence  of  the  vibrations  at 
the  time  would  have  prevented  his  review  even 
though  no  relatives  interfered.  But  you  will  re 
member  that  he  saw  you  at  once  and  had  hardly 
ceased  greeting  you  when  he  was  excited  by  the  sol 
diers  interfering  with  his  body.  However,  even  if 
you  had  not  been  there  he  would  not  have  had  any 
review  on  account  of  the  suddenness  of  what  was 
practically  accidental  death,  also  the  very  unfortu 
nate  vibrations  which  obtain  generally  all  over  the 
battle  line,  and  several  other  contributory  reasons 
which  I  won't  go  into  now;  but  you  see  that  death 
by  accident  or  violence  or  battle  is  unfortunate,  as 
it  interferes  with  the  normal  process  of  Nature.  Na 
ture,  however,  is  too  powerful  to  be  thwarted.  Nat 
ural  processes  may  be  interfered  with  and  thrown 
out  of  normal  but  they  cannot  be  thwarted  in  the 
long  run.  Nature  always  employs  the  very  abnor 
malities  to  further  her  ends,  so  that  when  an  account 
is  finally  totaled,  it  may  be  seen  that  what  at  the 
time  seemed  to  have  been  a  wasted  life  was  really 
not  wasted  at  all,  but  that  every  part  of  it  was  used. 
So,  in  our  Father's  great  universe  we  find  the  most 


122  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

wonderful  evidence  of  wisdom  everywhere,  wisdom 
without  limit,  wisdom  whose  heights  we  cannot  scale 
and  whose  depths  we  cannot  plumb. ' ' 

Jimmie  was  looking  at  his  friend  while  the  latter 
was  speaking  and  saw  a  sight  new  to  him  in  his  ex 
periences  in  this  wonderful  country.  He  saw  the  soul 
body  of  a  Master  who  was  wrapped  in  adoration  of 
the  Divine  Wisdom  and  in  love  for  the  Divine 
Creator. 

Brilliant  beyond  description  was  this  beautiful 
vision.  The  little  cabin  was  aflame  with  the  glory 
which  filled  it  with  coruscations  of  intense  light  in 
many  shades  from  pure  white  to  violet.  In  the  cen 
ter  of  this  terrific  radiance  was  the  etheric  body  of 
the  man,  standing  with  bowed  head  as  though  in 
prayer. 

Unprepared  for  such  a  vision,  Jimmie  staggered 
back  against  the  wall,  and  it  would  have  needed  but 
little  to  have  brought  him  to  his  knees  had  he  not 
remembered  the  words  spoken  by  the  angel  under 
somewhat  similar  circumstances,  "See  thou  do  it 
not."  So  he  did  not  worship,  but  he  stood  in  awe 
and  wonder  as  the  glory  began  to  fade  and  his  own 
friend,  familiar  once  more,  looked  at  him  and  with 
outstretched  hand  said: 

"Forgive  me,  friend.  For  a  moment  I  was  think 
ing  only  of  the  Father  and  His  Divine  love,  His 


HELPING  A  SLAIN  SOLDIER  123 

wonderful  forbearance  towards  us,  and  the  wisdom 
with,  which  He  makes  even  our  weakness  and  our 
failures  serve  him. 

"And  now  I  shall  leave  you  for  the  present.  Keep 
up  the  exercises  which  I  gave  you.  Seek  out  the 
other  lesson,  and  as  you  tread  the  path  may  the 
Father's  blessing  rest  upon  you." 

Slowly  the  cabin  grew  dim  and  dark,  the  move 
ment  of  the  vessel  became  noticeable;  Jimmie  felt 
the  edges  of  the  bunk  and  the  softness  of  the 
blankets  and  with  his  outstretched  hand  touched  the 
hardness  of  the  wall.  He  was  awake. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
A  STUDY  OF  AURAS 

JIMMIE  slept  no  more  that  night.  He  lay  awake, 
pondering  over  the  things  which  had  happened, 
and  gradually  there  came  over  him  the  conviction 
that  the  greatest  lesson  of  all  had  not  been  told  to 
him  but  had  been  left  for  him  to  find  out  for  him 
self. 

He  began  to  reason  the  thing  out.  Why  had  he 
been  selected  and  shown  so  many  wonderful  things? 
It  was  not  to  gratify  his  curiosity,  that  was  certain. 
It  was  not  that  he  might  here  and  there  pick  out 
some  one  to  whom  he  could  bring  a  moderate  degree 
of  consolation  for  the  loss  of  loved  ones,  although 
that  was  doubtless  one  of  the  minor  purposes. 
What  could  it  be,  the  great  idea  which  lay  behind  ? 

It  was  not  that  he  should  heal  the  sick,  although 
Mr.  Campion  had  told  him  a  great  deal  about  the 
curing  of  physical  illness  by  work  upon  the  vital 
body.  It  was  not  that  he  should  tell  the  story  of 
his  adventures  in  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead,  for 
he  had  been  especially  warned  that  he  must  not  do 
this  since  spiritual  experiences  will  not  stand  re- 

124 


A  STUDY  OF  AURAS  125 

peating;  and  besides,  he  had  been  told  that  people 
would  not  believe  him. 

He  remembered  that  the  greatest  Healer  who  had 
ever  lived,  had  never,  so  far  as  he  could  recall,  gone 
out  of  His  way  to  heal.  He  had  healed  many,  it  is  true, 
but  only,  as  it  were,  as  a  side  issue,  only  healing 
those  who  had  obtruded  themselves  upon  Him  and 
whose  demands  had  been  more  or  less  insistent.  Then 
what  was  he  to  do?  For  what  great  purpose  had  he 
been  instructed? 

Healing  was  not  the  great  reason,  nor  comforting 
the  sorrowful.  Training  his  own  personality  as  an 
end  in  itself  was  out  of  the  question — for  that 
would  have  involved  the  element  of  selfishness.  It 
must  be  something  which  he  was  to  pass  on  to 
others — that  much  was  clear,  and  he  began  to  reason 
from  analogy. 

Suppose,  he  thought,  he  were  a  wealthy  man, 
what  could  he  do  with  his  money  in  order  to  accom 
plish  most?  For  one  thing,  he  could  give  money  to 
those  in  need.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  giving 
money  to  the  needy  is  not  always  wise.  It  is  apt  to 
breed  more  troubles  than  it  cures. 

He  could  build  factories  and  divide  the  profits 
with  his  employees.  That  would  be  better.  That 
would  be  helping  others  to  help  themselves.  When 
Christ  was  on  earth  He  performed  nuany  miracles, 
and  the  Power  which  could  multiply  a  few  loaves 


126  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

and  fishes  until  they  were  enough  to  feed  thousands 
could  doubtless  have  turned  stones  into  gold.  Why 
then,  did  not  Christ  abolish  poverty  by  giving  gold 
to  all  the  poor  people  whom  He  met? 

The  Christ,  he  reasoned,  looked  at  the  matter  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  great  Sun  Spirit  that  He  was. 
He  knew  these  people  to  be  evolving  spirits  whose 
progress  from  the  pain  and  unhappiness  of  the 
lower  stages  of  evolution  to  the  great  joy  and  happi 
ness  and  splendor  of  the  higher  grades,  was  depend 
ent  solely  upon  spiritual  advancement  and  not  in 
any  wise  upon  their  accumulation  of  money  or  prop 
erty.  He  knew  that  spiritual  advancement  is  more 
often  retarded  by  the  possessions  which,  being  close 
at  hand  and  prominent,  seem  to  their  owner  to  be 
the  most  desirable  things  which  life  has  to  offer. 
Therefore  He  gave  them  those  things  which  were 
the  most  valuable — help,  encouragement,  and  teach 
ing  along  the  lines  which,  if  followed,  would  bring 
the  only  real  and  permanent  reward.  In  other 
words,  Christ  helped  His  followers  to  help  them 
selves  along  the  lines  of  spiritual  achievement. 

This  life,  Jimmie  realized,  taken  as  a  whole  from 
the  first  differentiation  of  the  individual  spirit 
within  the  great  being  of  God  before  it  starts  on 
its  long  pilgrimage,  until  the  final  day  of  liberation 
when  the  aspirant  can  speak  the  glorious  words, 
"It  is  finished/'  is  like  a  school,  and  in  it  we  learn 


A  STUDY  OF  AURAS  127 

our  lessons.  The  same  law  holds  good  as  in  our  child 
hood  school  days,  and  that  is  that  no  one  else  can 
learn  our  lessons  for  us.  A  teacher  can  only  help 
and  encourage,  lead  and  point  out  the  way.  The 
actual  acquirement  of  learning  must  be  through 
work  done  by  ourselves. 

True,  the  child  at  school  can  be  forced  by  fear  of 
punishment  to  study;  questions  and  examinations 
can  disclose  fairly  well  the  extent  to  which  he  has 
applied  himself.  But  the  punishment  or  the  fear  of 
it  does  not  accomplish  anything  except  to  spur  on 
a  careless  or  lazy  mentality.  The  learning  acquired 
is  the  result  of  the  child's  own  effort  regardless  of 
what  may  have  been  the  incentive 

So,  carrying  on  the  analogy,  spiritual  advance 
ment  for  the  majority  of  mankind,  is  the  result  of 
the  spirit's  own  work,  since  they  are  entirely  ignor 
ant  of  the  fact  that  they  are  in  school,  ignorant  of 
the  law  of  spiritual  growth,  hence  devoid  of  incen 
tive. 

The  education  of  a  child  who  will  study  only  un 
der  the  threat  of  punishment  is  of  very  poor  quality 
compared  with  that  obtained  by  one  who  knows  that 
it  is  receiving  a  training  which  will  help  it  to  get  on 
in  the  world  and  who  consequently  tries  to  study 
and  assist  the  teacher.  But  this  education,  although 
far  surpassing  the  first,  makes  a  poor  showing  com 
pared  with  that  obtained  by  the  child  who  has  a 


128  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

real  thirst  for  knowledge  and  who  needs  neither  the 
lash  of  fear  nor  the  spur  of  self-interest  to  urge  it 
on. 

So  with  spirtual  growth.  At  first  it  is  fostered 
by  fear — fear  of  death,  of  eternity,  and  all  the  other 
fears  which  operate  on  mankind. 

This  stage  of  spiritual  growth  is  excessively  slow, 
life  after  life  showing  but  little  gain.  When  self- 
interest  becomes  the  motive,  progress  is  a  little  more 
rapid.  It  is,  however,  only  when  self  is  forgotten 
and  the  man  works  for  love  alone  that  progress  is 
swift.  Then  he  has  reached  the  stage  described  in 
the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  who,  being  yet  a 
great  way  off,  was  seen  by  the  Father  who  went  to 
meet  him. 

Jimmie  pondered  these  things  carefully.  The 
great  purpose  was  not  healing  nor  consolation.  These 
were  by-products,  so  to  speak.  The  great  purpose 
must  be  connected  with  helping  people  to  help  them 
selves.  The  key  to  the  problem  evidently  lay  hidden 
there. 

Now,  how  was  he  to  help  others  to  help  them 
selves?  Spiritual  advancement  can  come  like  educa 
tion,  only  through  the  spirit's  own  efforts.  But 
achievement,  when  made  only  under  the  spur  of 
the  law  of  compensation  and  when  the  result  is  not 
incorporated  into  the  spirit  until  after  death,  is 
very  slow. 


A  STUDY  OF  AURAS  129 

The  child  at  school,  even  if  unwilling  to  learn, 
can  see  and  understand  the  geography  or  the  spell 
ing  book  whose  lists  of  names  and  words  it  is  re 
quired  to  memorize.  The  spirit  learning  under  the 
lash  of  the  great  Twin  Laws  does  not  understand 
but  is  learning  blindly. 

A  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Rebirth  and  Conse 
quence  would  be  a  great  aid  to  many.  It  would 
show  them  what  they  were  going  and  why  they  were 
doing  it,  and  in  a  great  number  of  cases  it  would 
accelerate  spiritual  progress  wonderfully. 

Jimmie  felt  that  this  was  not  the  real  answer  to 
his  problem,  but  he  also  felt  that  it  was  a  start  to 
ward  that  answer,  and  he  was  sure  that  it  he  should 
do  his  best  to  spread  the  knowledge  which  he  had 
gained — not  the  details  of  his  adventures,  but  the 
great  fact  that  a  tremendous  and  wonderful  spirit 
ual  life  is  going  on  around  us  all  the  time,  and  that 
at  death  we  merely  step  out  of  our  physical  cocoon 
into  a  glorious  freedom — if  he  should  do  his  best  to 
spread  this  knowledge  and  that  of  the  great  Twin 

Laws,  he  would  later  be  given  his  real  answer. 

*     #     # 

At  the  training  camp  to  which  he  had  been  as 
signed  Jimmie  soon  plunged  into  his  work  with 
earnestness.  It  was  not  hard  work  as  yet,  for  his 
superiors  had  consideration  for  his  physical  condi 
tion,  and  made  things  as  easy  for  him  as  they 

9 


130  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

could.  In  fact  he  had  had  one  entire  week  after 
landing  with  nothing  at  all  to  do,  and  he  spent  that 
week  getting  acquainted  with  the  city  near  which 
his  camp  was  located.  He  had  thought  of  visiting 
his  home,  but  the  leave  given  him  was  not  quite  long 
enough  and  he  was  unable  to  get  it  extended. 

Walking  around  this  unfamiliar  city,  he  amused 
himself  and  practiced  his  newly  budding  powers  by 
watching  the  auras  of  the  people  whom  he  met,  not 
the  people  with  whom  he  became  acquainted,  for 
Mr.  Campion  had  been  very  particular  to  point  out 
that  it  was  forbidden  to  any  occult  student  to  in 
vestigate  the  auric  colors  of  any  person  whom  he 
might  personally  know.  Such  investigation  must 
be  concerned  only  with  strangers  and  those  with 
whom  it  was  not  at  all  likely  that  an  acquaintance 
would  ever  be  made. 

It  had  not  been  long  that  he  had  been  able  to  see 
the  aura,  and  at  first  he  had  not  realized  what  it 
was  but  supposed  that  he  was  affected  in  some  way 
by  shell  shock.  When  first  he  had  glimpsed  the 
lightly  changing  colors  which  come  and  go  around 
the  head  and  shoulders,  he  had  thought  his  eyes 
affected.  Marjorie  had  told  him  of  auras,  and  he 
had  seen  the  color  around  the  head  of  his  nurse 
when  first  recovering  consciousness,  but  somehow  or 
other  these  impressions  had  been  too  vague.  When 
he  actually  saw  the  real  thing  after  the  first  glamour 


A  STUDY  OF  AURAS  131 

of  the  life  behind  the  veil  had  worn  away,  he  did 
not  recognize  it. 

He  had  first  seen  it  in  the  trenches.  A  number  of 
new  men  had  been  assigned  to  his  company  when 
returned  to  the  front,  and  he  had  been  watching 
one  of  these  men,  when  a  well  aimed  shell  of  small 
caliber  had  whizzed  very  close  above  the  top  of  the 
parapet  and  near  where  this  man  was  standing.  The 
man  did  not  move  nor  did  he  exclaim  but  stood  as 
calmly  as  though  he  had  been  a  veteran  of  twenty 
years  of  trench  warfare.  But  to  Jimmie,  watching 
him,  he  appeared  suddenly  to  be  enveloped  in  a 
cloud  of  gray  as  in  a  fog.  This  was  modified  by 
considerable  scarlet  around  the  head,  which  showed 
that  the  man  was  afraid  but  that  it  was  the  fear  of 
a  brave  man,  for  he  was  angry  too,  partly  at  him 
self,  for  being  afraid.  It  showed,  too,  that  while  the 
man  felt  fear,  yet  he  was  in  perfect  control  of  him 
self  and  would  not  allow  himself  to  show  it;  thus  he 
proved  himself,  to  Jimmie,  to  be  one  of  the  bravest 
of  the  brave. 

This  first  glimpse  which  Jimmie  had  of  the  aura 
was  not  a  very  clear  one.  He  had  the  impression 
that  his  eyes  had  suddenly  clouded  a  little  with 
moisture  which,  he  thought,  might  explain  the  gray 
mist,  but  the  appearance  of  scarlet  had  puzzled 
him.  For  several  days  he  had  no  recurrence  of  the 
sight,  but  after  that  it  had  come  more  and  more  fre- 


132  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

quently,  especially  after  he  had  recognized  it  for 
what  it  was  and  had  begun  to  practice  the  use  of  it. 
Later  still  he  found  that  he  could  look  at  men  and 
determine  whether  they  were  afraid  or  not,  whether 
they  were  angry  or  not  and  to  just  what  degree. 

And  still  later  he  had  begun  to  tell  the  difference 
between  the  aura  and  the  vital  body,  which  he  had 
not  been  able  to  distinguish  at  first  except  that  he 
knew  the  aura  to  be  considerably  outside  the  vital 
body  in  its  extent. 

During  his  voyage  he  had  exercised  his  budding 
power  on  the  members  of  the  crew  and  those  with 
whom  he  was  sure  he  would  not  be  thrown  into 
companionship  later.  This  had  been  unsatisfactory, 
however,  for  the  members  of  the  crew  did  not  dis 
play  much  variation  in  their  auric  coloring,  and  the 
colors  they  did  have  were  generally  of  a  muddy  and 
confused  variety.  Even  when  they  had  little 
bickerings  among  themselves,  they  never  showed  the 
pure  scarlet  but  only  a  muddy,  dirty  red,  consider 
ably  mixed  with  other  colors. 

Here  in  the  city,  however,  it  was  different.  There 
were  plenty  of  people  who  showed  only  the  unde 
veloped  colors,  it  was  true,  but  there  were  some 
whom  he  saw  on  the  street  whose  auras  were  beauti 
ful.  He  visited  a  church  the  first  Sunday  morning, 
thinking  that  there  at  least  he  would  find  the  higher 
shades  of  the  rarer  colors,  but  was  disappointed. 


A  STUDY  OF  AURAS  133 

The  most  beautiful  shade  of  blue  he  witnessed  was 
that  unconsciously  owned  by  a  little  old  lady  who 
would,  no  doubt,  have  been  very  much  surprised  had 
some  one  told  her  that  she  was  more  spiritual  than 
the  minister  himself. 

Often  on  the  street  Jimmie  would  see  a  well 
dressed  business  man  with  a  most  kindly  and  benevo 
lent  expression  yet  with  an  aura  which  denoted 
greed,  envy,  lust,  cruelty,  and  he  would  wonder 
what  such  a  man  would  do  in  a  world  where  such 
things  were  visible  to  all.  If  we  can  keep  our  self- 
respect  here  only  by  making  others  believe  we  are 
what  we  are  not,  although  possibly  trying  to  be  the 
latter,  then  in  a  world  where  the  character  is  an 
open  book  to  all  who  care  to  read,  what  shall  we 
do?  Obviously  it  is  "up  to  us"  to  lay  the  founda 
tions  of  character  of  which  we  shall  not  be  ashamed 
when  it  is  visible  to  all. 

Jimmie  made  a  mental  note  that  the  driving  home 
of  this  truth  was  one  of  those  things  which  it  was 
intended  he  should  accomplish.  Perhaps  it  was  part 
of  his  answer. 


CHAPTER  IX 

AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS 

IN  a  kind  of  waking  dream  passed  the  next  few 
months  of  Jimmie's  life,  a  life  made  very  busy 
by  the  demands  of  his  work  and  tinctured  by  a  curi 
ous  feeling  that  something  was  soon  to  happen,  a 
feeling  of  uneasiness,  of  waiting,  of  suspense.  He 
wrote  to  Louise  regularly  and  received  answers 
which  were  apparently  satisfactory,  to  judge  by  the 
number  of  times  that  he  read  and  re-read  each  letter. 
In  his  "sleep  life,"  which  was  becoming  more  and 
more  distinct  and  real,  he  was  developing  rapidly. 

Every  night  he  slipped  the  cable  and  soared  out 
into  the  great  world  which  lies  unseen  about  us,  and 
every  time  he  did  so  he  was  more  deeply  impressed 
with  the  wondrous  exaltation  which  the  "astom- 
phere"  of  that  world  produces. 

Much  of  this,  of  course,  it  is  impossible  to  describe 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  not  to  be  communicated  by 
language,  much  less  by  the  printed  word.  I  can 
think  of  only  one  way  in  which  my  meaning  can  be 
made  clear  to  those  who  read  this  little  story.  Did 
you  ever  have  a  very  vivid  dream  in  which  you  went 
through  some  most  delightful  experience  or  adven- 

134 


AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS        135 

ture?  Can  you  not  remember,  in  a  faint  and  very 
imperfect  way,  the  wonderful  "atmosphere"  of  that 
fairy  country  which  you  dreamed  you  visited?  Can 
you  not  recall  how,  when  you  tried  to  describe  your 
dream,  your  words  were  so  very  cold  and  colorless? 
Can  you  not  remember  that  the  great  thing  which 
made  you  so  enthusiastic  about  that  dream  was  not 
so  much  the  adventure  itself  as  it  was  the  strange, 
wonderful,  tingling  glamour  of  the  thing?  Glamour 
is  not  the  right  word  but,  as  I  said,  there  is  no  word 
in  our  language  to  hint  at,  far  less  to  describe,  the 
strange,  exhilarated  feeling  which  one  has  in  that 
beautiful  country.  It  is  a  feeling  which  must  be  ex 
perienced  to  be  realized.  It  can  never  be  portrayed 
to  one  who  has  never  felt  it.  A  man  born  blind  can 
listen  to  your  words  of  description  of  the  beauty 
of  color  and  the  splendor  of  the  sunset,  but  to  him 
your  words  mean  nothing.  You  speak  of  a  "riot  of 
color"  when  you  have  in  mind  some  wonderful  exhi 
bition  of  atmospheric  coloring  in  the  western  sky 
as  the  sun  sinks  to  rest. 

The  blind  man  knows  what  a  riot  is  and  he  has  an 
academic  idea  of  what  color  is,  but  of  the  combina 
tion,  which  is  so  clear  in  your  mind,  he  has  and  can 
have  no  conception  whatever. 

So,  to  those  of  us  who  are  not  able  to  visit  those 
glorious  regions,  the  description  of  them  seems  cold. 
And,  what  is  more  unfortunate,  the  actions  which 


136  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

are  based  upon  familiarity  with  those  regions    and 
their  laws  seem  foolish. 

It  is  but  another  verification  of  the  Biblical  state 
ment  that ' '  the  wisdom  of  God  is  foolishness  to  men. ' ' 
"We  are  yet  so  steeped  in  selfishness,  even  those  of 
us  who  most  pride  ourselves  upon  our  unselfishness, 
that  when  we  come  face  to  face  with  real  wisdom 
we  are  like  the  man  in  the  parable,  "  speechless. " 

The  morning  and  evening  exercises  Jimmie  kept 
up  faithfully,  for  he  had  now  come  to  see  the  phil 
osophy  of  them,  and  he  felt  ever  more  and  more  their 
tremendous  effect.  He  had  long  ago  quit  smoking 
and  meat  eating.  These  departures  of  his  were  a  never 
ending  source  of  wonder  to  his  comrades,  who  could 
not  understand  why  any  sane  person  should  quit 
eating  meat  except,  possibly,  to  cure  rheumatism, 
while  the  giving  up  of  tobacco  could  be  accounted 
for  by  only  one  word,  "fanaticism." 

He  liked  to  attend  church,  not  only  for  the  strong 
spiritual  vibrations  which  were  present  in  the 
church,  but  also  to  practice  reading  the  colors  in 
the  various  auras.  The  minister  of  the  church  to 
which  he  usually  went  thought  that  his  sermons 
were  the  main  attraction  and  took  Jimanie's  regular 
attendance  as,  in  part,  a  compliment  to  himself.  But 
Jimmie  knew,  as  every  occultist  knows,  that  on  Sun 
day  the  vibrations  all  over  the  land  are  different  and 
vastly  better  than  on  week  days.  Jimmie  had  in 


AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS        137 

some  of  his  excursions  visited  savage  lands  and  had 
watched  the  various  savage  religious  rites,  and  he 
was  in  a  position  to  compare  the  vibration  there  to 
the  vibrations  which  were  prevalent  over  his  own 
country  on  a  Sunday.  The  tremendous  contrast  im 
pressed  upon  him  the  fact  that  the  western  race  is 
on  the  eve  of  something  ' '  different. ' ' 

As  the  time  passed  on  in  work  and  drill,  in  various 
social  activities,  and  in  his  more  and  more  absorb- 
inly  interesting  occult  development,  the  terrible  Rus 
sian  debacle  began  to  feature  more  and  more  in  the 
news  of  the  day  and  in  the  thoughts  and  words  of 
men.  Something  of  it  Jimmie  was  able  to  watch  at 
times  when  he  made  excursions  during  his  sleeping 
hours.  But  he  was  hampered  greatly  by  the  fact 
that  he  had  not  as  yet  learned  how  to  leave  his  body 
consciously,  and  so  he  was  not  in  the  full  possession 
of  choice  as  to  where  his  wanderings  would  lead  him. 
Generally,  if  he  made  up  his  mind  strongly  before 
he  went  to  sleep,  he  could  determine  the  locality  of 
his  visit,  but  to  do  this  required  interest  in  it  and 
as  on  the  occasions  when  he  had  visited  the  country 
of  the  former  Czar  he  had  not  been  able  to  under 
stand  a  single  thing  which  he  had  heard,  this  inter 
est  was  more  or  less  mild  when  compared  with 
the  intense  longing  to  spend  his  time  on  the  battle 
line  with  his  old  comrades,  now  and  then  helping  one 
of  them  across  to  the  other  side  of  death. 


138  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

The  question  which  will  occur  to  many  at  this 
time,  a  perfectly  natural  question,  is  this:  Why  did 
not  Jimmie  use  his  newly  found  power  to  visit 
Louise,  since  he  was  really  in  love  with  her  and  cor 
responded  with  her? 

The  reason  was  a  two-fold  one.  In  the  first  place, 
Jimmie  came  of  gentle  people,  and  his  boyhood  train 
ing  had  been  such  that  it  would  have  been  impossible 
for  him  to  have  used  any  occult  power  to  spy  upon 
his  sweetheart.  The  other  reason,  which  would  have 
operated  had  the  first  not  been  his  guiding  impulse, 
was  the  warning  which  Mr.  Campion  had  strongly 
impressed  upon  him  that  the  occult  law  will  not  per 
mit  the  use  of  occult  power  for  any  motive  of  curi 
osity. 

When  any  one  is  developing  the  ability  to  see  011 
the  other  planes  and  to  travel  in  "foreign  coun 
tries,"  he  must  have  practice,  and  to  that  end  he  is 
allowed  to  watch  the  auras  and  the  play  of  auric 
colors  about  strangers;  he  is  allowed  to  travel  and 
examine  distant  lands  and  to  watch  people  and  their 
lives  bat  only  to  do  so  for  the  purpose  of  study  and 
practice.  Abuse  of  spiritual  power  brings  its  own 
peculiar  and  terrible  punshiment.  But  aside  from 
any  dread  of  punishment  it  would  have  been  utterly 
foreign  and  abhorrent  to  Jimmie 's  nature  to  have  at 
tempted  to  spy  upon  his  sweetheart.  The  idea  never 
occurred  to  him,  for  he  was,  above  and  beyond  all 
else,  a  gentleman. 


AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS       139 

The  one  remaining  way  of  honorably  communicat 
ing  with  her  by  means  of  sending  out  a  call  on  the 
higher  planes  he  had  promised  not  to  do,  since  she 
was  busy  all  the  time  and  her  sleep  was  taken  when 
she  could  get  it  instead  of  at  regular  intervals.  Had 
he  called  her  she  would  have  come,  but  the  call  might 
have  been  sounded  just  at  a  time  when  her  attention 
was  needed  for  some  critical  operation — it  might, 
possibly,  have  cost  a  life.  So  Jimmie  had  promised 
and  being  a  gentleman,  he  loyally  kept  that  promise. 
Therefore  his  only  means  of  communication  was  by 
the  same  post  upon  which  all  the  rest  of  American 
sweethearts  had  to  depend. 

But  no  such  rule  applied  in  the  case  of  Marjorie. 
In  that  case  he  was  at  liberty  to  call  when  he  got 
upon  the  other  side,  and  in  a  very  little  while  Mar 
jorie  would  come  dancing  up,  full  of  gayety  and 
happiness,  and  the  two  would  embark  upon  a  long 
"glide,"  sometimes  half  around  the  world. 

It  was  Marjorie  who  introduced  him  to  the  nature 
spirits  with  whom  she  was  a  prime  favorite,  and 
Jimmie  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  elves  and  the 
Brownies  and  even  the  fairies  themselves.  He  learned 
that  there  are  many  more  tribes  of  these  strange 
creatures,  some  of  whom  avoid  man  as  much  as  pos 
sible  while  some  are  actively  hostile  to  him. 

As  a  rule,  those  whom,  he  met  in  his  wanderings 
were  gentle,  timid  folk,  or  gentle  even  if  not  timid. 


140  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

He  grew  to  be  very  fond  of  the  Brownies  in  partic 
ular,  whom  he  could  always  meet  in  out  of  the  way 
forest  countries.  He  loved  to  talk  and  play  with 
them,  and  they  grew  to  love  him  too,  for  they  are  of 
a  rather  affectionate  nature  but  distrustful  of  men, 
since  the  vibrations  of  the  average  man  are  very 
coarse  and  unpleasant  to  a  being  of  sensitive  nature. 

The  fairies  were  harder  to  know,  but  with  the  help 
of  Marjorie  he  made  many  friends  among  them,  who 
used  to  visit  him  sometimes  when  he  was  out  alone 
in  the  woods. 

This  phase  of  his  extra-physical  life  was  full  of 
adventure  and  was  like  one  long  fairy  story,  but  I 
am  mentioning  it  now  for  a  single  purpose  and  that 
is  to  show  what  a  tremendous  dynamo  of  energy  is 
the  human  will. 

Jimmie  had  few  holidays,  but  once  in  a  while  he 
was  able  to  get  away  from  the  camp  and  plunge  into 
the  woods,  which  he  could  reach  after  a  very  short 
railway  journey.  He  liked  to  go  out  into  the  forest 
for  the  reason  that  is  was  here  the  little  people  were 
to  be  found,  and  after  they  discovered  the  fact  that 
he  was  harmless  to  them  they  used  to  flock  around 
him  whenever  they  caught  him  wandering  alone,  and 
together  they  had  a  merry  time. 

It  was  on  one  of  these  trips  that  he  had  not  gone 
far  into  the  woods  when  he  was  aware  of  something 
wrong  with  the  vibrations  in  the  ether.  He  heard  no 
one  calling,  but  somehow  he  knew  that  there  was 


AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS.      141 

trouble  at  hand,  and  he  set  about  to  find  it.  It  was 
only  a  few  minutes  after  first  sensing  the  etheric  dis 
turbance  that  he  saw  in  a  little  glade  one  of  his 
Brownie  friends  trying  to  defend  himself  against  the 
attacks  of  five  most  loathsome  beings.  I  shall  not  at 
tempt  to  describe  them  beyond  saying  that  they  were 
apparently  semi-human,  semi-  animal.  Evidently  they 
were  not  of  the  harmless  type  of  nature  spirits,  for 
the  little  Brownie  was  having  a  hard  time  of  it.  He 
was  not  fighting  with  any  weapon  but  would  make 
motions  at  the  creatures,  and  as  he  did  so  they  would 
shrink  back,  much  as  though  he  had  struck  them.  At 
once,  however,  they  would  recover  and  press  in  on 
him  again,  and  Jimmie  knew,  though  this  was  his 
first  experience  of  the  sort,  that  he  was  witnessing 
a  combat  on  the  etheric  plane. 

As  he  came  up  the  Brownie  tried  to  break  through 
the  circle,  but  he  was  evidently  weakened  in  some 
way,  and  three  of  the  creatures  blocked  him  and 
drove  him  back. 

They  did  not  touch  the  Brownie  nor  did  the 
Brownie  touch  them,  yet  in  some  way  or  other  the 
contact  was  a  most  practical  one  since  Jimmie  could 
tell  by  his  little  friend's  movements  that  he  was  much 
distressed  and  that  the  odds  were  too  great  against 
him. 

There  was  not  the  slightest  hesitation  in  Jimmie 's 
action.  Never  before  had  he  seen  such  a  thing  as  a 


142  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

fight  upon  this  plane  of  being,  but  he  did  know  that 
there  was  such  a  thing  as  a  contest  between  different 
sets  of  forces.  Evidently  it  was  some  such  thing 
which  he  was  witnessing  now  and  he  knew  why  the 
little  Brownie  was  getting  the  worst  of  it. 

On  the  other  plane  a  contest  is  a  contest,  not  of 
blows  or  of  what  would  correspond  to  physical  force, 
but  of  the  will.  It  is  not  entirely  of  the  will  either. 
For  instance,  a  number  of  evilly  inclined  spirits  may 
be  tormenting  another,  yet  when  one  of  the  "Mas 
ters"  happens  by  and  puts  a  stop  to  the  affair,  he 
does  not  do  so  by  physical  force  nor  yet  by  a  supreme 
exercise  of  a  stronger  will,  though  of  course  he  has 
stronger  will.  His  power  to  stop  the  cruelty  is  the 
result  of  a  stronger  will  combined  with  the  fact  that 
his  higher  position  in  the  scale  of  being  has  given 
him  an  aura  whose  vibrations  are  so  strong  that  a 
being  whose  vibrations  are  less  good  or  positively 
evil,  simply  cannot  endure  the  higher  vibratory  rate 
of  the  Master's  presence.  This  is  an  extreme  instance, 
of  course,  but  it  holds  good  on  all  planes  of  nature 
where  the  higher  vibrations  can  be  felt,  and  it  would 
act  with  full  power  on  the  physical  plane  except  the 
the  fact  that  the  higher  vibrations  here  are  so  dulled 
by  the  flesh  that  they  lose  their  force  and  can  only 
act  slowly.  It  reminds  one  strongly  of  a  line  in  a 
hymn  which  says,  "Where  Thou  art  present,  evil 
cannot  be,"  and  the  statement  holds  true  in  all  cases 


AN  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NATURE  SPIRITS       143 

where  good  is  brought  into  contact  with  evil,  the 
effect  varying  with  the  degree  of  difference  between 
the  intensity  of  the  good  and  the  intensity  of  the 
evil. 

Now  the  Brownies  are  a  gentle,  likable,  little  race, 
but  they  are  nature  spirits,  and  while  innocent  and 
sensitive  to  a  great  degree,  their  innocence  is  not  the 
result  of  a  positive  and  long  drawn  out  fight  against 
temptation,  but  is  more  like  the  innocence  of  child 
hood,  and  therefore  is  not  a  source  of  power.  They 
are  remarkably  like  little  children  in  many  ways, 
with  a  child's  affection  and  a  child's  intuitive  likes 
and  dislikes  but  with  a  good  deal  of  a  child's  help 
lessness  against  aggression. 

So  this  little  Brownie,  who  was  so  bravely  fighting 
against  terrible  odds,  did  not  have  the  strength  which 
would  have  been  his  had  he  been  the  product  of  a 
long  evolution  of  physical  plane  suffering  and  train 
ing.  He  was  like  a  little,  helpless  child,  striking 
bravely  but  futilely  against  a  pack  of  wolves  who  are 
restrained  only  because  they  think  him  to  be  stronger 
than  he  is. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  Jimmie  came 
upon  the  scene.  A  sharp  exclamation  burst  from 
him  and  in  a  few  strides  he  stood  by  the  Brownie 
and  faced  the  loathsome  elementals  who  were  attack 
ing  him.  Jimmie  merely  looked  at  them,  pointed, 
said  "Go",  and  used  his  imagination  and  will  to 


144  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

sweep  them  together  and  disintegrate  them.  They 
leered  horribly  at  him  and  mouthed  and  gibbered, 
but  the  human  will,  the  result  of  long  evolution, 
was  too  strong  for  them  and  they  simply  faded  from 
sight  like  a  vanishing  picture  on  the  screen. 

The  Brownie  had  fallen  in  a  heap  when  Jimmie 
took  the  fight  off  his  hands,  but  recuperative  power 
on  the  etheric  plane  is  rapid,  and  the  elementals  had 
hardly  disappeared  when  he  sprang  up  and  with  one 
bound  threw  himself  into  Jimmie 's  arms  and  clung 
to  him,  sobbing  incoherently  for  all  the  world  like  a 
child;  and  since  his  height  was  only  about  eighteen 
inches,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Jimmie  had 
the  same  feeling  which  one  would  have  after  rescuing 
a  child  from  a  vicious  dog. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  a  Brownie  had  ever 
touched  him,  for  they  are  a  shy  little  people.  But 
now  that  his  friendship  was  proved,  this  one 
Brownie,  at  any  rate,  clung  to  him  and  caressed  his 
cheek  and  stroked  his  hair  and  kept  repeating: 

"Jimmie,  my  friend;  Jimmie,  my  friend." 

They  walked  on  for  a  few  minutes,  and  since  the 
Brownie  weighed  nothing,  being  an  etheric  entity, 
Jimmie  simply  held  him  as  he  would  have  held  a 
child  and  tried  to  soothe  him  gently  and  help  him  re 
cover  from  his  fright.  Thus  they  were  situated  when 
a  whole  troop  of  the  little  people  came  dancing  out 
of  the  denser  forest  and  spied  them. 


CHAPTER  X 
A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE 

WHEN  the  band  of  Brownies  spied  the  most 
unheard  of  sight  which  greeted  them  as  they 
swept  out  of  the  cover  of  the  woods  and  came  face 
to  face  with  Jimmie  holding  his  little  Brownie  friend 
in  his  arms,  they  showed  signs  of  greatest  excite 
ment. 

Very  naturally  and  just  as  human  beings  might 
do,  they  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  at  least  one 
Brownie  had  turned  traitor  to  his  race  and  kindred. 
They  surrounded  Jimmie  at  a  respectful  distance 
and  began  to  shout  to  his  little  companion  in  their 
own  language,  which  Jimmie  recognized  since  it  was 
a  sort  of  universal  language,  but  still  he  could  not 
tell  what  they  were  saying. 

His  little  friend  understood,  however,  and  showed 
the  most  unmistakable  tokens  of  distress.  Finally, 
the  accusations  becoming  too  harsh  for  his  endur 
ance,  he  leaped  out  of  Jimmie 's  arms  and  ran 
straight  for  the  Brownie  who  seemed  to  be  the  leader 
of  the  band.  He  then  began  an  explanation  of  the 
occurrence.  Jimmie  could  follow  him  quite  well  al- 

145 

10 


146  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

though  he  talked  faster  than  any  Frenchman  he  had 
ever  heard.  The  little  fellow's  powers  of  gesticula 
tion  were  wondejrful. 

Acted  out  before  him  and  accompanied  by  the 
most  rapid  verbal  performance  to  which  he  had  ever 
listened,  Jimmie  saw  the  whole  adventure.  The  little 
Brownie  would  have  made  an  incomparable  actor 
could  he  have  been  enticed  upon  a  stage  and  given 
a  more  material  body.  The  surprise  by  the  horrible 
elementals;  the  desperate  seeking  for  some  way  to 
escape;  the  tremendous  fight,  and  the  awful  weari 
ness  which  was  fast  giving  way  to  the  certainty  of 
death ;  the  mouthings  and  grimaces  of  the  hostile  cir 
cle  around  him,  and  the  despair  which  overcame  him 
when  each  attempt  at  escape  was  blocked;  then  the 
tremendous  relief  when  suddenly  this  great  giant  of 
a  human  being  with  that  terrible  human  will  power 
stood  at  his  side  and  took  his  part  in  the  unequal 
struggle. 

"You  see,"  the  Brownie  shrieked  at  last,  "It  is 
all  right.  He  is  my  friend.  You  see!" 

Here  his  enthusiasm  overcame  him,  and  with  one 
tremendous  leap  he  landed  squarely  on  Jimmie 's 
shoulder  and  began  to  jump  from  one  shoulder  to 
the  other,  every  now  and  then  giving  Jimmie 's  head 
a  friendly  kick  as  he  passed  over  it.  This,  since  he 
was  an  etheric  entity,  did  not  give  Jimmie  any  incon 
venience  and  seemed  to  amuse  the  crowd  of  Brownies 
immensely. 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  147 

They  crowded  in  a  little  closer,  and  Jimmie  was 
aware  of  the  change  in  their  attitude  by  the  friendli 
ness  of  their  glances,  the  frequent  smiles  with 
which  they  greeted  him,  and  the  bantering  manner 
in  which  they  spoke  to  his  active  little  friend. 

As  a  general  thing  the  vibrations  of  the  human 
race  are  offensive  to  the  little  people  for  the  reason 
that  most  human  beings,  on  account  of  their  habit 
ual  line  of  thinking  and  acting,  have  built  into  their 
etheric  bodies  most  undesirable  etheric  matter. 

To  a  great  extent  this  also  holds  true  of  their  desire 
bodies,  and  as  the  Brownies  are  on  the  borderland 
between  the  two  kingdoms,  they  are  affected  very 
adversely  thereby. 

Jimmie  did  not  know  exactly  what  to  do  so  he  did 
the  most  natural  thing  possible,  he  sat  down  on  a 
log  and  stretched  his  feet  out  in  front  of  him.  One 
of  the  bolder  of  the  Brownies  after  several  feints 
took  a  running  start  and  jumped  over  his  feet,  giv 
ing  one  of  them  a  little  touch  with  his  foot  as  he 
passed  over.  Finding  that  he  was  still  unhurt  he 
jumped  again,  thjs  time  landing  on  Jimmie 's  foot 
and  immediately  jumping  away  again. 

Meantime  a  number  of  them  had  come  up  beyond 
reach  of  his  arms  and  were  discussing  him  in  their 
queer  little  high-pitched  voices,  while  he  felt  many 
touches  on  his  back  and  little  tweaks  at  his  belt  and 
blouse.  This  was  entirely  possible  even  though  the 
little  folk  were  not  on  the  physical  plane.  The  seem- 


148  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

ing  incongruity  did  not  occur  to  Jimmie  until  some 
time  afterward,  for  when  we  see  that  a  thing  is  really 
true  we  are  very  prone  to  accept  the  fact  without 
question,  never  stopping  to  consider  that  according 
to  all  theory  and  reason  the  fact  ought  to  be  a  fancy 
only. 

"Say,  Buster,"  Jimmie  spoke  to  the  little  Brownie 
whom  he  had  saved  from  the  elementals,  "What's 
the  matter  with  your  friends?  They  seem  to  be 
afraid  of  me.  Tell  them/  I  won't  hurt  them." 

"Oh,  they're  foolish!  They're  afraid.  You  won't 
hurt.  You're  a  friend." 

He  began  an  impassioned  harangue  in  his  own 
language  with  the  result  that  three  Brownies  came 
and  sat  on  Jimmie 's  leather  leggings,  while  some 
others  came  within  reach  of  his  arm  but  stood  as 
though  ready  to  jump  at  a  moment's  notice. 

Jimmie  sat  perfectly  still,  not  moving  a  muscle 
except  that  he  kept  talking  to  "Buster",  whose 
name  he  asked  in  vain  as  the  little  fellow  seemed  to 
be  proud  of  the  name  Jimmie  himself  had  carelessly 
bestowed,  and  to  every  inquiry  returned  the  state 
ment  that  "Buster"  was  his  name  and  he  knew  no 
other. 

Gradually  the  talk  and  Buster's  assurances  had 
their  effect,  and  the  rest  of  the  Brownies  began  to 
lose  their  fear  of  the  big  human  being  who  had  saved 
their  comrade  from  so  awful  a  fate.  They  drew 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  149 

nearer  and  showed  more  interest  in  the  conversation, 
and  Jimmie  took  advantage  of  the  fact  to  ask  Buster 
what  would  have  happened  to  him  had  the  ele- 
mentals  won  the  fight.  He  was  uncertain  whether 
death  was  a  possibility  to  any  being  who  had  no 
physical  body,  but  the  great  relief  and  gratitude 
which  Buster  had  evinced  made  it  clear  that  an  ad 
verse  outcome  of  the  combat  would  at  least  have 
been  highly  disagreeable  to  the  Brownie. 

But  Buster  hated  to  think  of  what  would  have 
happened.  He  did  not,  apparently,  like  to  use  his 
imagination.  Like  a  child  intent  on  play  he  was  im 
patient  of  any  attempt  to  make  him  think  seriously, 
and  only  cared  for  his  play  and  the  particular  sport 
upon  which  he  happened  to  be  engaged.  Irresponsi 
bility  seemed  to  be  the  keynote  of  his  make-up,  and 
concentration  upon  any  particular  thing,  unless  he 
happened  to  be  interested  in  it,  was  irksome  to  him. 
Jimmie  finally  gave  up  the  attempt  and  turned  his 
attention  to  making  friends  with  the  rest  of  the 
band. 

In  this  he  was  successful  for  the  Brownies  soon 
lost  all  their  fear  of  him  and  came  within  reach  of 
his  arms  without  watching  him  to  forestall  any 
possible  hostile  movement. 

" Buster/'  said  Jimmie  at  length,  "tell  me  why 
your  people  were  afraid  of  me.  What  harm  can  I 
do  them?" 


150  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"You  see,"  squeaked  Buster,  "your  will  power. 
It  is  so  strong.  That  is  why.  They  did  not  know  as 
I  know." 

It  took  a  great  many  questions  to  elicit  the  reason 
for  the  Brownies'  shyness,  but  Buster,  with  the  help 
of  others  who  took  a  hand  in  the  conversation,  finally 
enlightened  Jimmie  as  to  the  cause  of  the  disinclina 
tion  which  his  people  have  towards  association  with 
mortals. 

It  seems  that  not  only  are  the  human  vibrations 
usually  very  disagreeable  to  the  Brownies,  but  the 
human  will  power  is  so  strong  that  when  it  is  intelli 
gently  directed,  they  are  often  unable  to  resist  it. 
This  makes  them  afraid  of  the  neighborhood  of  men, 
for  some  human  beings  are  gifted  with  a  slight  clair 
voyance  and  it  frequently  happens  that  the  clairvoy 
ant  ones  are  not  the  most  advanced  members  of  the 
race.  Thus  a  low  grade  mortal  with  a  little  clairvoy 
ant  power  can  make  himself  very  disagreeable  to 
the  Brownies. 

Also  it  developed  that  to  touch  a  human  being 
gives  that  being  in  some  mysterious  way  an  added 
power  of  being  disagreeable,  should  he  so  choose. 
From  this  Jimmie  could  see  why  the  Brownies  were 
so  horrified  when  they  first  saw  Buster  riding  in 
his  arms  and  on  such  friendly  terms  with  him. 

By  this  time  all  reserve  was  thrown  to  the  winds 
and  the  whole  Brownie  band  were  reveling  in  their 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  151 

acquaintance  with  a  man.  They  climbed  all  over 
him,  they  stood  on  his  head  and  jumped  over  his 
feet,  and  it  was  with  considerable  difficulty  that 
Jimmie  could  get  one  to  stop  in  his  play  and  answer 
any  questions.  It  was  as  though  their  intelligence 
made  them  somewhat  like  a  very  young  child — able 
to  talk  and  to  understand  simple  language  but  wholly 
incapable  of  any  mental  effort  beyond  that  of  a  six 
or  seven  year  old.  But,  like  children,  their  love  and 
trust,  once  given,  were  without  reserve. 

So  Jimmie  spent  a  pleasant  afternoon  with  his  lit 
tle  friends  until  a  near  approach  of  some  berry  pick 
ers  alarmed  them,  and  they  scampered  off  into  the 
forest  after  making  him  promise  another  visit.  He  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  any  real  information  to 
be  obtained  about  them  must  be  derived  from  some 
other  source  than  themselves.  It  was  the  first  time 
that  he  had  been  brought  into  contact  with  nature 
spirits  or  elementals,  and  he  resolved  to  find  out 
more  about  them  since  it  was  evident  that  in  meeting 
them  he  had  glanced  into  another  one  of  the  man 
sions  of  our  Father's  House,  which  is  so  full  of 
wonders. 

The  Brownies  having  gone,  he  started  for  home, 
walking  slowly  and  reviewing  in  his  mind  the  things 
he  would  put  in  his  next  letter  to  Louise  and  think 
ing  a  little,  too,  of  how  happy  he  would  be  when 
she  should  come  home  again  and  when  the  war  should 


152  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

be  over  and  peace  declared.  He  would  have  to  work 
hard  to  make  up  for  lost  time  and  earn  the  money 
for  the  little  home  which  he  wanted  so  much.  And 
the  great  work  must  not  be  forgotten  either,  for  he 
would  have  to  plan  some  way  to  reach  the  great 
mass  of  people  who  are  so  hungry  for  every  little 
crumb  of  spiritual  knowledge,  and  who  are  often 
fed  with  pebbles  instead  of  crumbs.  After  all,  the 
world  was  a  fine  place  to  live  in  for  one  who  was  will 
ing  to  work,  and  he  began  to  feel  the  thrill  of  joy 
which  is  the  reward  of  every  earnest  worker,  and  from 
which  one  may  imagine  the  bliss  which  is  the  part 
of  the  great  Brothers  of  the  Light,  who  spend  their 
energy  to  serve  mankind  and  who  renounce  the  rest 
and  peace  of  heaven  itself  in  order  to  serve. 

He  walked  back  to  the  train  in  a  sort  of  dream, 
so  fascinated  was  he  in  the  hopes  and  plans  which 
he  had  made  and  the  castles  in  the  air  which  he  had 
built.  And  through  it  all  there  ran  that  dangerous 
thread  of  vanity,  which  so  often  insinuates  itself  in 
the  place  of  other  and  grosser  forms  of  evil  which 
we  m&y  have  managed  to  throw  out.  He  was  not 
conscious  that  it  was  vanity,  but  had  he  stopped  to 
analyze,  he  would  have  known  that  his  dreams  were 
all  based  on  what  he  would  do  and  on  the  service 
which  he  would  perform,  and  there  was  lacking  that 
one  great  mark  of  the  devoted  worker,  namely,  a 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  153 

thankfulness  to  the  Master  for  giving  him  oppor 
tunity  to  serve.  ? 

It  is  the  subtle  difference  between  the  laudable 
joy  of  service  and  the  unjustifiable  pride  of  service 
which  often  makes  our  deposits  in  the  heavenly 
treasure  house  of  humble  silver  instead  of  kingly 
gold. 

But  Jimmie  was  unconscious  of  this  sinister 
thread  which  ran  through  the  warp  and  woof  of 
his  dreams.  He  dwelt  on  the  happiness  which  he 
hoped  would  be  his  and,  too,  on  the  possibility 
that  he  might  be  able  to  get  back  to  France  before 
the  "show"  was  over,  for  he  coveted  one  of  the 
valor  medals  and  meant  to  get  one  if  he  had  to 
capture  a  whole  German  army  single-handed.  Here 
he  could  not  help  smiling  at  himself  for  his  imagina 
tion  was  presenting  him  with  pictures  of  himself 
driving  ahead  of  him  a  whole  company  of  ' '  Fritzies, ' ' 
and  with  the  smile  he  came  back  to  earth  again. 

It  was  a  happy  and  enthusiastic  Jimmie  who  en 
tered  his  quarters  that  evening,  singing  a  song 
which  had  been  one  of  the  trench  favorites  and  liter 
ally  bubbling  over  with  hope  and  irresponsibility. 
And  there  upon  his  table  lay  a  letter  from  France, 
from  Louise. 

He  snatched  it  quickly  and  felt  a  slight  wonder 
that  is  was  so  thin,  but  the  wonder  was  only  a  semi- 


154  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

conscious  one  as  he  tore  the  envelope  open  in  his 
eagerness  to  know  what  she  had  to  say. 

His  face  changed  as  he  read  the  first  few  lines, 
and  the  letter  fluttered  from  his  hand.  He  said 
nothing  but  presently  went  and  leaned  his  head 
against  the  wall.  In  a  little  while  he  came  back  and 
picked  up  the  letter  from  the  floor  and  read  it 
again.  It  was  cruelly  short. 

"Dear  Mr.  Westman,"  it  ran,  "I  am  about  to  sail 
for  home  on  the  next  convenient  steamer  and  write 
to  tell  you  not  to  send  any  more  letters  to  France 
for  me.  On  thinking  it  over  I  am  convinced  that 
our  engagement  was  not  the  result  of  a  sufficiently 
long  acquaintance,  so  I  release  you  and  think  that 
it  would  be  better  to  let  the  matter  end  there.  I 
shall  not  expect  any  more  letters  from  you,  and  I 
trust  that  you  will  regard  my  wishes  in  the  matter 
and  forget  that  I  ever  entered  your  life.  With  best 
wishes  for  your  future  happiness,  etc." 

Jimmie  felt  stunned.  The  other  letters  he  had 
had  from  Louise  were  generally  short,  for  she  was 
worked  almost  to  death  and  he  knew  it  and  made 
allowance  for  it,  but  in  those  short  letters,  almost 
notes,  she  had  never  before  given  expression  to  a 
word  of  regret  for  the  engagement  into  which  they 
had  entered.  All  sorts  of  reasons  flashed  through 
his  mind  only  to  be  rejected  as  unworthy  of  himself 
or  Louise.  ? 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  155 

Perhaps  she  bad  met  some  one  whom  she  loved 
better.  That  was  a  possibility,  he  admitted  to  him 
self,  but  would  not  explain  the  curtness  and  abrupt 
ness  of  the  letter.  Perhaps  she  had — Oh!  He  could 
not  believe  that  she  really  wrote  what  was  in  her 
mind.  Yet,  if  she  did  not  write  what  was  in  her 
mind,  why  should  she  write  at  all?  She  was  not  com 
pelled  to  write.  There  was  no  law  which  forced  her 
to  write.  She  surely  could  not  be  angry  for  she 
knew  very  well  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  obey 
his  orders  and  that  he  had  not  left  France  willingly. 
This  was  war  time,  orders  were  orders,  and  Louise 
knew  that  as  well  as  he,  for  she  had  been  up  near 
the  front  where  men  were  dying  every  day  on  ac 
count  of  these  same  "orders." 

The  more  he  thought  the  matter  over  the  more 
he  found  that  his  love  for  Louise  was  a  very  deep 
and  strong  feeling.  Well  could  he  remember  the 
kindly,  gentle  nursing,  the  little  things  she  had  done 
for  him  when  he  was  helpless,  how  she  had  gone 
without  some  of  the  sleep  she  needed  so  badly  in 
order  to  read  to  him  when  the  shellshock  nervous 
ness  came  over  him.  Once  when  he  had  lain  there, 
in  no  great  pain  it  is  true,  yet  almost  screaming 
from  the  horror  of  those  jagged  nerves,  she  had  sat 
by  him  with  her  hand  on  his  forehead,  soothing  him 
with  little  verses  of  poetry,  snatches  of  hymns,  any 
thing  that  she  could  remember,  to  steady  his  mind 
and  take  his  thoughts  away  from  that  strange,  pe- 


156  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

culiar  condition  which  is  the  result  of  shell  shock  and 
which  is  always  different. 

And  then,  after  he  was  well — oh  shucks!  letter  or 
no  letter,  he  would  not  believe  what  she  had  written 
until  she  had  confirmed  it  with  her  own  spoken 
words.  He  would  find  her  and  learn  from  her  own 
lips. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Jimmie  that  in  all  the  ex 
cuses  and  reasons  and  explanations  which  he  had 
threshed  over  in  his  mind,  never  once  had  he  thought 
of  Louise  discarding  him  for  any  financial  reasons. 
It  was  as  fine  and  noble  a  tribute  as  he  could  have 
laid  at  the  feet  of  this  golden  girl  of  his,  that  all  the 
reasons  which  he  could  imagine  for  her  action  took 
the  form  of  a  fear  that  in  some  way  he  had  not 
measured  up  to  the  high  standard  which  she  had  set 
for  him,  or  that  he  had  unwittingly  offended  her  in 
some  way,  but  never  once  did  he  dream  of  a  low  or 
base,  mercenary  motive  on  her  part.  Could  she 
have  known  this,  it  would  surely  have  melted  her 
heart  towards  him,  but  Jimmie  himself,  was  as  un 
conscious  of  the  matter  as  she  was ;  to  ascribe  an  un 
worthy  motive  to  her  letter  simply  had  never  oc- 
cured  to  him. 

He  knew  the  little  town  where  her  home  was.  He 
figured  that  on  account  of  the  slowness  of  the  postal 
service  from  France,  she  had  probably  reached  this 
country  some  time  ahead  of  her  letter,  and  the 
chances  were  that  she  was  even  now  at  home.  The 


A  CRISIS  IN  LOVE  157 

thought  set  him  tingling,  and  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  simply  must  get  a  week's  furlough  and  fol 
low  the  matter  to  the  end. 

But  furloughs  are  not  easy  to  get  in  time  of  war. 
He  knew  it  would  take  at  least  a  day  to  reach  her 
home  and  a  day  to  get  back,  and  he  wanted  a  day 
there.  If  connections  were  bad,  it  might  well  take 
longer,  so  he  decided  to  ask  for  a  week. 

That  night  as  he  fell  asleep  he  determined  to 
sound  a  call  for  Marjorie,  and  sure  enough,  when 
he  awoke  in  the  now  familiar  conditions  of  the  De 
sire  World,  he  became  conscious  that  Marjorie  was 
coming.  So  he  was  not  surprised  at  all  when  the 
young  lady  herself,  laughing  and  evidently  in  the 
best  of  spirits,  stood  before  him. 

Jimmie  at  once  began  to  tell  the  story  of  his  woes 
in  the  hope  that  Marjorie  would  sympathize  with 
him  and  offer  to  help  him,  but  he  had  reckoned 
without  his  hostess  for  all  she  did  was  to  laugh  at 
him.  If  those  of  us  who  regard  the  other  world  as 
a  place  of  funereal  gloom  and  despair  and  hopeless 
ness  could  have  looked  on  at  that  little  scene,  how 
much  of  the  dread  of  death  would  we  have  lost. 

Marjorie  was  dead.  This  girl  had  been  torn  from 
her  family  by  that  ruthless  King  of  Terrors,  and  ac 
cording  to  all  the  generally  accepted  beliefs  she 
should  have  been  anything  but  what  she  really  was 
— happy,  joyous  with  the  pure  joy  of  living — 
happy  conditions  in  which  she  lived,  freed  from  all 


158  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

the  cramping  necessities  of  physical  life,  pain,  weari 
ness,  the  ten  thousand  little  things  which  never  rise 
above  the  threshold  of  consciousness  but  which  in 
their  aggregate  amount  to  a  continuous  discomfort; 
and  above  all,  happy  because  not  separated  from  her 
family,  although  they  were  separated  from  her. 

This  apparently  anomalous  condition  arose  from 
the  fact  that  every  night  she  could  meet  them  on  the 
desire  plane,  talk  to  them,  and  "visit"  with  them; 
although  they  were  unable  to  carry  back  the  memory 
of  these  meetings,  she  was  under  no  such  limitation. 
So  it  was  really  true  that  all  the  separation  was  on 
their  side,  not  on  hers.  Hence  there  is  nothing  to 
be  wondered  at  in  her  happiness,  for  why  should  she 
not  be  happy? 

But  Jimmie  thought  she  was  entirely  too  happy. 
He,  himself,  was  miserable  or  thought  he  was,  and 
he  needed  sympathy.  Also,  though  he  had  not  ad 
mitted  it  to  himself,  he  hoped  that  Mar jorie  would 
tell  him  something  about  Louise  and  why  she  had 
acted  so.  He  felt  that  Mar  jorie  must  know.  It 
would  not  be  right  to  ask,  but  perhaps  she  would 
volunteer  a  few  words  of  comfort.  This  thought 
of  Jimmie 's  did  not  escape  Marjorie  for  a  moment, 
and  it  was  what  she  was  laughing  at.  Jimmie  had 
come  to  have  an  idea  that  he  was  of  considerable  im 
portance,  and  there  was  a  lesson  on  the  subject  due 
him. 


CHAPTER  XI 

LIGHT  AGAIN 

JIMMIE  was  looking  for  sympathy.  He  was 
really  feeling  that  he  had  been  rather  badly 
used,  and  he  had  sounded  a  call  for  Marjorie  with  a 
hazy  idea  that  perhaps  she  could  tell  him  why  Louise 
had  acted  in  such  an  extraordinary  manner.  In  the 
finer  realms,  knowledge  does  not  always  have  to  be 
acquired  in  the  same  way  that  we  obtain  it  in  the 
physical  world,  but  the  advanced  soul  can  very  often 
know  things  by  merely  turning  his  attention  to 
them. 

Jimmie  was  well  aware  of  this  fact  but  was  doubly 
barred  from  making  use  of  it,  for  in  the  first  place 
he  was  not  far  enough  advanced  to  gain  much  in 
formation  in  this  way,  and  also  in  this  particular 
instance  it  would  have  been  unfair  to  attempt  to 
learn  why  Louise  had  done  as  she  had  except  by  the 
method  of  calling  on  her  in  person. 

But  there  remained  a  slight  possibility  that  Mar 
jorie  knew  something  about  the  matter  and  might 
be  willing  to  give  him  a  few  hints,  and  also  he 
thought  that  she  would  sympathize  with  him  and 

159 


160  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

thus  encourage  him  even  if  she  did  not  give  him  any 
real  information. 

But  Marjorie,  though  she  had  come  at  his  call  for 
help,  had  not  come  in  the  way  he  had  expected.  He 
knew  that  Marjorie  could  sense  from  the  vibrations 
that  surrounded  him  that  he  was  in  deep  trouble, 
and  he  had  expected  that  she  would  come  up  all 
sympathy  and  interest  and  ready  to  proffer  her 
help,  so  it  was  no  wonder  that  he  should  have  been 
somewhat  shocked  to  find  her  so  full  of  life  and  happi 
ness  and  the  sheer,  pure  joy  of  living.  Sympathy 
was  apparently  far  from  her  mind  just  at  the  time. 

4 'Oh,  Jimjnie,  I'm  so  glad  you  called  me.  I  was 
wonderng  whether  you  would  come  over  soon.  I 
have  so  much  to  tell  you;  just  the  most  * be-you-tif uT 
things  that  you  ever  dreamed  of!" 

Jimmie  looked  at  her,  contemplatively,  but  was 
silent. 

*  *  They  Ve  given  me  a  promotion,  Jimmie,  isn  't  that 
fine?  Now  I  can  do  more  work  and  be  of  some  real 
use.  They've  given  me  a  little  class  to  teach,  some 
of  the  little  children  who  have  just  passed  over,  and 
they're  such  dear  little  things!  They  were  so  fright 
ened  and  bewildered,  but  I've  been  showing  them 
that  there's  nothing  to  fear  and  nothing  around 
them  but  love,  and  it's  so  beautiful  to  see  them  come 
out  of  their  shells  of  terror  and  just  blossom  out  as 


LIGHT  AGAIN  161 

the  little  flowers  do  when  the  sun  shines  on  them. 
I'm  so  happy  I  can't  stay  still." 

What  an  object  lesson  it  would  have  been  to  some 
of  the  sorrowing  of  earth  life  could  they  have  seen 
that  radiant  girl  with  the  love  and  happiness  of 
that  plane  on  which  she  was  living,  and  trans 
figured  with  the  joy  of  the  realm  into  which  she 
was  leading  those  poor  little  mites  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  their  bodies  by  the  harshness  of  con 
ditions  on  the  physical  plane.  Could  the  relatives 
of  those  children  have  seen  her,  they  would  have 
given  their  sorrow  and  sympathy,  not  to  the  ones 
who  had  "died,"  but  to  those  who  had  been  left  to 
face  the  long  struggle  and  hard  experiences  of 
earth. 

Jimmie  tried  to  meet  her  mood  and  succeeded  in 
congratulating  her  on  the  congenial  work  which  had 
been  assigned  to  her,  but  the  dominant  thought  in 
his  mind  would  not  be  banished  so  easily  and  he 
blurted  out: 

"I'm  in  trouble,  Marjorie." 

Instantly  Marjorie's  face  grew  grave  and  Jimmie 
continued : 

"Have  you  seen  Louise  lately?" 

"No,  Jimmie,  I  have  not.  I've  been  so  very  busy, 
and  then  you  know  I  don't  go  down  to  the  earth 

11 


162  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

plane.  The  only  time  I  see  any  of  my  earth  friends 
is  when  they  come  over  here  in  sleep,  and  they  often 
fail  to  come.  I'm  sure  there's  nothing  serious  troub 
ling  you.  You  know  that  you  and  Louise  are  both 
on  the  earth  plane,  and  you  can  go  and  see  her  if 
you  want  to.  It's  fortunate  you  asked  me  the  ques 
tion  because  I  will  just  forget  it;  but  suppose  you 
had  asked  the  Elder  Brother  a  question  of  mere 
curiosity,  what  would  he  have  thought!" 

Her  face  had  cleared  and  she  was  now  laughing 
at  him  again,  but  she  had  given  him  quite  a  shock. 

"Marjorie,  I  envy  those  little  children.  Sometime 
I  want  to  come  over  and  see  your  little  class  if  I  may. 
Now  I  am  going  back  and  I  will  take  your  advice,  for 
you  have  helped  me  more  than  you  know,  perhaps, 
and  more  than  I  expected.  You  are  a  dear,  true 
friend,  Marjorie." 

Back  in  his  physical  body  Jimmie  thought  over 
her  words  and  realized  more  and  more  how  he  had 
let  his  selfishness  mislead  him.  "Curiosity!"  A 
"question  of  mere  curiosity,"  it  certainly  was.  The 
very  thing  he  had  known  well  he  must  not  do,  he  had 
done.  And  she  had  not  rebuked  him  nor  found 
fault  with  him,  but  had  just  led  him  so  gently  and 
so  kindly  to  see  his  error.  He  made  up  his  mind 
that  never  again  would  he  make  such  a  mistake  and 


LIGHT  AGAIN  163 

never  again  would  he  forget  the  great  watchword  of 
"Service." 


"Mother!  I  can  see  it!  0  Mother,  Mother!  I  can 
see  it!" 

"Can  you!  Oh,  darling,  are  you  sure?  Don't  strain 
your  eyes.  Remember  what  the  doctor  said.  Better 
let  me  put  the  bandage  back." 

"No,  no.  I  can't  bear  that  awful  bandage  any 
more.  I  can  see,  I  tell  you.  I  saw  that  lone  pine 
over  on  the  ridge  almost  as  well  as  I  ever  saw  it. 
Don't  put  the  bandage  back.  I'll  keep  my  eyes  shut 
and  that  will  do  as  well.  I  promise  I  will.  Really 
and  truly  I  will.  And  I'm  going  out  for  a  little 
walk  all  by  myself.  I  promise  you  I  won't  look  much 
and  I'll  keep  my  eyes  almost  closed." 

"You  willful  girl!  Don't  go  and  spoil  everything 
now.  Better  let  me  put  the  bandage  back  and  lie 
down  for  a  while." 

"Remember  I'm  a  nurse,  Mother,  and  I  know  a 
lot.  I  won't  strain  my  eyes  even  the  least  little  bit, 
but  I  must  get  out  for  a  little  walk  or  I  think  I'll 
die.  Please,  Mother!  I  know  the  way  blindfolded 
even,  so  I  won't  need  to  look  but  just  a  little." 

"Where  do  you  want  to  go?" 

"Just  over  to  the  old  pine  on  the  ridge  and  then 
I'll  come  right  back.  I  know  the  way  in  the  dark, 
and  I  think  if  I  just  walk  over  there  all  by  myself 


164  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

and  touch  the  old  tree,  it  will  almost  make  me  well 
again. ' ' 

"Well,  all  right,  but  don't  be  gone  long  or  I'll 
come  after  you,  and  don't  try  to  open  your  eyes. 
They're  too  weak  yet." 

The  sun  was  shining  almost  directly  down  upon  a 
little  cotttage  where  this  conversation  took  place, 
filling  the  gently  rolling  country  side  with  its  sum 
mer  glory,  flecking  the  ground  between  the  trees 
with  quivering  splotches  of  gold,  and  bringing  into 
sharp  relief  the  houses  of  the  village  beyond  and  the 
ridges  of  the  woods  nearby,  and  showing  in  its  lonely 
grandeur  the  great  tree  which  reared  its  head  far 
above  its  fellows  on  a  low  elevation  some  few  hun 
dred  yards  behind  the  house. 

It  was  towards  this  tree  that  a  girl  soon  took  her 
way,  emerging  from  the  back  door  of  the  house,  and 
wearing  on  her  head  an  old-fashioned  sun  bonnet 
which  effectually  shaded  her  face  from  the  brilliant 
light  around  her.  She  walked  slowly  as  though  a 
little  uncertain  of  the  path  and  with  one  hand  partly 
outstretched  in  the  manner  of  one  who  walks  by 
night. 

There  was  a  distinct  path  towards  the  big  tree,  for 
it  was  the  short  cut  to  the  village  and  always  used 
by  those  who  preferred  to  walk  through  the  cool  of 
the  woods  instead  of  by  the  slightly  longer  wagon 
road. 


LIGHT  AGAIN  165 

The  girl  walked  along  it  as  though  it  were  familiar 
to  her,  as  indeed  it  should  be,  for  she  had  been  born 
and  brought  up  in  that  little  cottage  where  her 
mother  had  just  gone  back  to  the  homely  task  of 
washing  dishes  after  sundry  long  and  anxious  looks 
at  the  retreating  figure. 

There  was  no  danger  to  the  venturesome  traveler, 
she  knew,  for  there  in  the  great  State  of  New  York 
there  were  no  invading  armies  and  no  murderous  ar 
tillery  or  bombs.  No  danger  threatened  that  slender 
figure  on  the  path,  either  from  man  or  beast,  and  yet 
the  mother  sought  the  doorway  every  now  and  then 
to  cast  another  loving  look  at  the  sunbonnet  bobbing 
its  leisurely  way  towards  the  goal  of  the  great  tree 
on  the  ridge.  No,  there  was  no  danger,  for  war  was 
far  from  this  peaceful  land. 

Now  the  sunbonnet  was  near  the  tree  and  soon  it 
would  be  starting  on  its  return  journey.  But  stop! 
The  mother  took  off  her  glasses  and  polished  them 
on  her  apron.  Some  one  else  was  on  the  path.  Some 
one  else  wearing  a  uniform  and  looking  like  a  sol 
dier.  Surely  it  could  not  be.  Soldiers  sometimes 
passed  through  the  village  but  not  often,  and  the 
village  boys  who  could  go  had  all  gone  to  the  war. 
Strangers  never  came  along  this  path.  Well!  The 
soldier  man  had  stopped  the  sunbonnet  and  was 
talking  to  it,  asking  the  way,  doubtless.  How  long 
it  took  to  ask  the  way !  Sunbonnet,  Sunbonnet !  what 


166  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

is  the  matter?  Don't  you  know  better  than  to  stop 
and  talk  to  strange  soldier  men?  The  soldier  man 
has  caught  Sunbonnet  in  his  arms  and  is  embracing 
her!  Oh,  this  is  awful!  The  mother  hastened  out  of 
the  back  door  and  along  the  path.  Her  suspense  did 
not  last  long  for  she  soon  met  Sunbonnet  walking 
back,  and  with  her,  his  arm  about  her,  walked  a 
tall  officer  who  was  calling  her  " Louise"  and  other 
things,  just  as  though  Sunbonnet  had  known  him 
well. 

That  afternoon  as  they  all  sat  on  the  porch,  every 
thing  was  made  clear.  Jimmie  had  started  to  ride 
to  the  house  after  being  directed  as  to  the  way,  but 
something  had  changed  his  mind  and  he  had  walked. 

"And  do  you  know,  I  was  about  to  take  the  long 
way  by  the  road  when  a  little  friend  of  mine  whom 
I  know  as  '  *  Buster ' '  called  to  me  from  the  woods  and 
showed  me  the  path." 

"Buster,  Buster,"  said  Louise  thoughtfully,  "I 
don't  remember  any  boy  around  here  who  is  called 
that." 

"No.  That's  another  story  which  I'll  tell  you 
some  day,  but  Buster  thought  he  owed  me  a  good 
turn  and  right  well  he  paid  his  debt." 

Louise  too  had  her  story  to  tell.  There  had  been 
a  great  need,  and  she  had  been  sent  to  a  station  up 
near  the  front  where  a  temporary  hospital  was  locat- 


LtiGHT  AGAIN  167 

ed  and  where  the  nurses  and  surgeons  were  working 
to  the  limit  of  endurance.  One  night  an  airman  of 
the  great  nation  whose  high  degree  of  culture  impels 
it  to  bomb  hospitals  and  other  defenseless  places,  had 
dropped  a  number  of  bombs  on  the  spot,  and  one  of 
them  had  fallen  near  Louise  as  she  was  trying  to 
help  her  wounded  charge  away  from  the  sign  of  the 
Red  Cross  which  ought  to  have  been  their  best  pro 
tection.  A  great  flash  and  roar,  a  violent  blow  on 
the  head,  and  she  had  known  nothing  more  until  she 
awakened  in  a  hospital  in  Paris  to  find  her  eyes 
tightly  bandaged  and  their  sight  very  nearly  gone. 
Her  first  thought  was  for  Jimmie,  and  she  deter 
mined  that  never  would  she  burden  him  with  a  sight 
less  and  disfigured  wife — hence  the  letter  which  in 
the  despair  of  her  heart  she  had  had  written  in 
defiance  of  the  rules,  and  which  another  nurse  had 
posted  for  her. 

The  disfigurement  had  yielded  to  skillful  treat 
ment,  but  the  eyesight  grew  worse,  and  she  was  sent 
home,  a  woebegone  little  piece  of  flotsam  cast  by  the 
great  storm  of  war  upon  a  peaceful  shore. 

But  in  the  last  day  or  two  she  had  been  able  to 
discern  a  little  light,  and  that  morning,  having 
quietly  removed  the  bandage,  she  had  found  that, 
though  blurred  and  distorted,  her  sight  was  coming 
back. 


168  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  DEAD 

"And  Oh!  God  is  good  to  me,  Jimmie.  He  has 
given  me  back  my  sight,  and  He  has  given  me  some 
thing  worth  so  much  more  even  than  that." 

"What?" 

"How  much  would  you  like  to  know?" 
***** 

Well,  well!  This  is  not  a  story  of  love  but  a  story 
of  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead.  And  yet  how  can 
they  be  separated  ?  For  all  love  is  of  God  whose  name 
is  Love,  and  to  those  who  do  His  will  there  is  naught 
in  all  the  universe,  either  in  this  world  or  the  next, 
but  love.  There  are  sacrifice  and  service,  but  they 
are  just  the  evidences  of  love,  showing  itself  in  action. 
In  the  Land  of  the  Living  Dead  there  is  Love  too, 
and  no  account  of  that  Land  can  be  true  which  does 
not  tell  of  the  love  which  throbs  and  pulsates  through 
all  its  beautiful  worlds.  Even  down  in  those  dark 
realms  of  which  I  have  not  spoken  there  is  a  dim 
light  which  filters  through,  and  the  very  pain  which 
is  felt  there  is  but  the  preparation  for  the  love  which 
one  day  will  fill  all  the  universe,  when  the  knowl 
edge  of  God  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea. 


RAYS  FROM  THE  ROSE  CROSS 

A  Monthly  Magazine  of 

MYSTIC  LIGHT 
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General  Contents 

The  Mystic  Light  Department  is  devoted  to  articles  on 
Occultism,  Mystic  Masonry,  Esoteric  Christianity 
and  similar  Spiritual  Subjects. 

The  Question  Department  is  designed  to  give  further 
light  upon  the  various  subjects  dealt  with  in  the 
different  departments. 

The  Astral  Ray  Department  gives  Cosmic  Light  on 
Life's  Problems.  So  far  as  space  permits  horo 
scopes  of  subscribers'  children  are  read  each  month. 
These  readings  show  the  hidden  faults  and  talents 
to  help  the  parents  bring  out  the  best  in  their 
charges. 

Vocational  Readings  for  young  men  and  women  are 
given  to  show  them  the  sphere  in  the  world's  work 
for  which  they  are  best  fitted. 

Studies  in  the  Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception.  Our 
Origin,  Evolution  and  Ultimate  Destiny  are  relig 
iously,  reasonably  and  scientifically  explained  in 
this  department. 

Children's  Department.  Letters  and  Lessons  for  the 
Children. 

Nutrition  and  Health.  In  this  department  articles  on 
diet  teach  how  to  build  bodies  wisely  and  well. 

The  Rosy-Cross  Healing  Circle.  Its  meetings  and  their 
results. 


How  MADE  AND  UNMADE 


The  Occult  Effect  of  our  Emotions 


Prayer—  A  Magic  Invocation 


Practical  Methods  of  Achieving  Success 

A  NEW  BOOK 

By  Max  Heindel 


175  pp.   Cloth  Bound 
Two  Dollars   Postfree 

These  four  series  of  lessons  in  one  volume  are 
the  collected  fruits  of  a  Mystic's  investigations 
showing  the  unseen  forces  which  shape  our 
destiny. 

This  valuable  information  is  now  given  for 
the  first  time  in  book  form. 


By  MAX  HEINDEL 

An  Esoteric  Exposition  of  the  Cosmic  Facts  underly 
ing  these  two  Great  Institutions,  as  de 
termined  by  Occult  Investigation 


Describes  the  influence  of  each  of  these  institu 
tions  upon  the  evolution  of  mankind  and  the  ultimate 
destiny  of  each. 

The  building  of  King  Solomon's  Temple  has  al 
ways  remained  a  theme  of  great  interest;  but  add  to 
this  the  story  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  and  the  real 
builder  of  the  Temple,  Hiram  Abiff,  so  seldom  read 
of  in  current  literature,  and  truly  one  is  confronted 
by  a  story  of  exquisite  and  transcendent  interest. 

To  have  read  this  book  is  to  have  delved  deep  into 
the  past  and  to  have  gained  a  glimpse  into  the  mys 
teries  that  have  puzzled  philosophers  in  ages  gone  by. 
Only  a  Mystic  and  a  trained  Seer  who  has  the  divine 
gift  of  reading  the  Akashic  Kecords  of  the  past  could 
give  such  a  lucid  description  of  this  great  subject. 


THIS  BOOK  SHOULD  BE  IN  EVERY  MASON'S 
LIBRARY 


Bound  in  cloth.  98  pages.  Price  $1.00 


of 


BY  MAX  HEINDEL 

Five  Lessons  Published  in  Book  Form 
On  The  Subject  of  Christmas 

Including  : 

The  Cosmic  Significance  of  Christmas 
Spiritual  Light  —  The  New  Element 

and  the  New  Substance 
The  Annual  Sacrifice  of  Christ 
The  Mystic  Midnight  Sun 
The  Mission  of  Christ 


All  interpreted  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
mystic,  showing  the  occult  significance  of  these 
important  subjects. 


Printed  on  heavy  eggshell  paper. 
Attractively  bound  in  heavy  paper  cover. 
$1.00  Postfree. 


(Eijrtattamtg 

BY  MAX  HEINDEL 


ANCIENT  TRUTHS  IN  MODERN  DRESS 
Price  lOc  Each,  Postfree 

No.     1.  The  Riddle  of  Life  and  Death. 

No.     2,  Where  Are  the  Dead? 

No.     3.  Spiritual  Sight  and  the  Spiritual  Worlds. 

No.     4.  Sleep,    Dreams,    Trance,    Hypnotism,    Mediumship 

and  Insanity. 

No.     5.  Death  and  Life  in  Purgatory. 

No.     6.  Life  and  Activity  in  Heaven. 

No.     7.  Birth  a   Fourfold  Event. 

No.     8.  The   Science  of  Nutrition,  Health  and  Protracted 

Youth. 

No.     9.  The  Astronomical  Allegories  of  the  Bible. 

No.  10.  Astrology;   Its   Scope  and   Limitations. 

No.  11.  Spiritual   Sight  and  Insight. 

No.  12.  Parsifal. 

No.  13.  The   Angels  as   Factors  in  Evolution. 

No.  14.  Lucifer,  Tempter  or  Benefactor? 

No.  15.  The     Mystery    of    Golgotha     and    the     Cleansing 

Blood. 

No.  16.  The  Star  of  Bethlehem;  A  Mystic  Fact. 

No.  17.  The  Mystery  of  the  Holy  Grail. 

No,  18.  The  Lord's  Prayer. 

No.  19.  The  Coming  Force;  Vril  or  What? 

No.  20.  Fellowship  and  the  Coming  Race. 

These  lectures  are  particularly  suitable  for  beginners. 
Read  consecutively,  they  give  a  comprehensive  outline  of  our 
philosophy. 

THEY  FIT  THE  POCKET 

and  allow  a  busy  man  to  utilize  time  on  cars  en  route  to  or 
from   business. 

GIVE  ONE  TO  A  FRIEND 
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IN  QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS 
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A  book  of  ready  reference  upon  all  mystic  matters, 
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inating  diagrams,  is  printed  on  fine  paper  in  clear  type, 
reinforced  binding  of  cloth  with  the  beautiful  Rosicrucian 
Symbols  stamped  upon  the  cover  in  red,  black  and  gold;  and 
the  three  edges  are  also  gold  • 

PARTIAL  LIST  OF  SUBJECTS 

Section  I. — Life  on  Earth.  Social  Conditions,  Marriage, 
Children,  Sleep  and  Dreams,  Health  and  Disease 

Section  II. — Life  After  Death.  Cremation.  Purgatory, 
The  First  Heaven,  The  Second  Heaven,  The  Third 
Heaven,  Guardian  Angels. 

Section  HI. — Rebirth.  The  Law  of  Rebirth,  The  Law  of 
Causation,  Transmigration. 

Section  IV.— The  Bible  Teachings.  The  Creation,  The  Fall, 
The  Immaculate  Conception,  Sayings  of  Christ. 

Section  V. — Spiritualistic  Phenomena.  Mediumship,  Ob 
session,  Materialization. 

Section  VI. — Clairvoyance.  Dangers  of  Psychism,  True 
Spiritual  Unfoldment,  Initiation. 

Section  VI 1 1.,  Animals.     Their  Life  Here  and  Hereafter. 

It  is  truly  AN  OCCULT  INFORMATION  BUREAU! 


dijrist 


(ft  r> 

(LLomesr 


By  Max  Heindel 

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AN  ELEMENTARY  EXPOSITION 

200  pp.  cloth.    $1.50  postfree 

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who  is  seeking  a  solution  to  the  Great  Mystery  called  Life, 
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speculations.  The  lucid  and  logical  explanations  carry  con 
viction  —  they  bear 

THE  STAMP  OF  TRUTH 

Nevertheless,  the  language  is  so  simple,  clear  and  devoid  of 
technicalities  that  a  child  can  understand  its  message.  It 
is  therefore  specially  suited  to  beginners,  but  advanced 
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THE  MYSTERY  OF  LIGHT, 

COLOR  AND  CONSCIOUSNESS, 

and  similar  subjects  of  vital  interest. 


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The  idea  that  India  is  the  main  repository  of  occult 
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tian  Religion  to  embrace  Hinduism.  "Christ  or  Buddha?" 
shows  most  clearly  that 

THE  WESTERN  WISDOM  TEACHINGS 

throw  a  light  upon  the  problems  of  life  which  is  much 
more  intense,  far-reaching  and  soul  satisfying  in  every  re 
spect.  A  partial  list  of  contents  will  indicate  its  scope. 

Involution,  Evolution  and  Epigeneds. 

Trance. 

Dreamless  sleep. 

Dreams. 
.The  Waking  State. 

The  Mystery  of  Blood. 

The  Mystery  of  Sex. 

The  Mystery  of  Death. 

The  Christ  of  the  East 

The  Christ  of  the  West 


of 

BY  MAX  HEINDEL  AND  AUGUSTA  Foss  HHNDEL 

ZTwrd  ^dtVwjt 
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By  MAX  HEINDEL 
Fourth  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged 

WITH    MAX    HEINDEL 's   PORTRAIT 

198  pp.     Bound  in  Cloth.     $1.50  Post  paid 
A  complete  textbook  on  the  art  of  erecting  a  hor 
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and 

Tables  of  Planetary  Hours 

The  Philosophic  Encyclopedia  fills  a  long  felt  want 
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Latitudes  25  to  60  Degrees,  Inclusive 

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This  remarkable  book  by  Max  Heindel  marks  an  entirely 
new  departure  in  mystic  literature. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Western  Wisdom 
Teaching  concerning  Life  and  Being  which  the  Rosicrucians 
have  guarded  for  centuries,  is  here  given  by  an  authorized 
messenger,  for  it  is  held  that  the  world  is  ready  to  receive 
this  advanced  science  of  the  soul,  the  religious  philosophy  of 
the  Aquarian  Age,  now  at  hand.  The  existing  scul-hunger 
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equally  well  attested  by  the  phenomenal  sale  of  this  great 
book,  and  many  thousands  of  letters  received  by  the  author 
from  grateful  students  located  all  over  the  world,  who  testify 
that  they  there  found  what  they  have  long  sought  elsewhere 
in  vain. 

We  give  herewith  some  headings  of  chapters  and  sub 
divisions  as  a  slight  indication  of  what  is  contained  in  this 
mine  of  mystic  light  and  knowledge. 

Part  I. 

The  Visible  and  Invisible  Worlds,  The  Four  Kingdoms,  Man 
and  the  Method  of  Evolution.  Spirit,  Soul  and  Body; 
Thought,  Memory  and  Soul-growth.  The  conscious,  subcon 
scious  and  superconscious  mind.  The  science  of  death,  the 
beneficence  of  purgatory,  life  in  heaven.  Re-birth  and  the 
Law  of  Consequence. 

Part  II. 

The  Scheme  of  Evolution.  The  Path  of  Evolution.  The 
Work  of  Evolution.  Genesis  and  Evolution  of  Our  Solar 
System.  Chaos  the  seed-ground  of  Cosmos,  Birth  of  the 
Planets,  Planetary  Spirits.  Evolution  of  the  Earth.  The 
Moon,  the  eighth  sphere  of  retrogression.  Occult  Analysis 
of  Genesis.  The  Nebular  Theory. 

Part  III. 

Christ  and  His  Mission.  The  Star  of  Bethlehem,  the  Mys 
tery  of  Golgotha  and  the  cleansing  blood.  Future  Devel 
opment  and  Initiation.  Alchemy  and  Soul-growth.  The 
Method  of  Acquiring  First-hand  Knowledge.  Western 
Methods  for  Western  People.  Esoteric  Training.  Christian 
Rosenkreuz  and  the  Order  of  Rosicrucians.  The  Rosicru 
cian  Initiation. 


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